Gamification-Based Biology Learning Application for Grade XI High School Students

Abstract

Biology learning at the senior high school level, particularly on the topic of the human digestive system, is still predominantly conducted using conventional teaching methods that tend to be less interactive. As a result, students often become easily bored and lack motivation to understand the concepts of the human digestive system. This study aims to develop a gamification-based learning application that integrates game elements such as points, levels, badges, leaderboards, progress bars, and interactive quizzes as an alternative learning medium. The application was developed through the stages of concept design, interface and asset creation, application implementation using Unity, and functional testing using the Black-box Testing method. Unity was utilized as the primary game engine, while Firebase served as the back-end platform for user authentication, data storage, and learning progress management. The results show that the application was successfully developed with features including 3D models of the digestive organs, interactive quizzes, a level system, a teacher dashboard, and a leaderboard. Based on Black-box Testing conducted on 21 test scenarios, the application achieved a success rate of 99%, indicating that all features functioned according to the specified functional requirements. Furthermore, the application was evaluated by 20 adolescents equivalent to eleventh-grade senior high school students. The evaluation results indicate that the implementation of gamification elements and 3D object visualization enhanced students' learning motivation, user engagement, and understanding of the human digestive system. In addition, gamification features, including levels, points and scores, badges, leaderboards, learning progress tracking, rewards, and final evaluations, were successfully implemented in the Android-based Human Digestive System learning application.