Tangible or Intangible: Is That a Dilemma for Gamified Flipped Learning in Primary School Mathematics?

Gamification plays an important role in flipped learning environments. Recent studies underscore the effectiveness of gamified approaches within these settings, but also indicate that most designs for gamification are predominantly digital-based. This study aims to explore the competition between tangible (physical) and intangible (digital) forms of gamification in the context of flipped learning. Specifically, it assesses the impact of both tangible and intangible gamified flipped learning approaches on students’ mathematical literacy self-efficacy beliefs and their engagement levels towards learning activities. The study group for this quasi-experimental study was composed of 69 fifth-grade students from a public school in Türkiye. The study group was separated into three groups: two experimental groups (tangible and intangible) and one control group. The findings indicate that both tangible and intangible gamification in a flipped learning environment have a positive impact on students’ personal experience of their mathematical literacy self-efficacy beliefs. However, neither approach had a significant impact on students’ engagement levels. These results suggest that gamified flipped learning could be an effective strategy for enhancing students’ personal experience of their mathematical literacy self-efficacy beliefs at the primary education level. The study provides pedagogical implications based on these results and offers recommendations for future research.