Formative Assessment Based on Quizizz and Students' Intrinsic Motivation in Online Saudi Female EFL Classes: An Action Research Investigation.

Informed by self-determination theory, this classroom-based action research explored how Quizizz gamified formative assessment affected intrinsic motivation and engagement in an online Saudi female English as a foreign language (EFL) class. As explained by Ryan and Deci (2020), Self-Determination Theory focuses on the three basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, whose satisfaction positively impacts learners' motivation. This research study is a response to the practical problem of limited participation in oral formative assessment in a typical Zoom class. The study followed a small-scale mixed methods approach with pre-test and post-test single-group design. The participants consisted of ten adult female Saudi learners studying English as a Foreign Language in their online class. During the first phase, the learners were asked to orally respond to ten questions on Aladdin and the Magic Lamp topic in Zoom immediately after a lesson. In the next phase, the same content and ten questions were asked on the Quizizz platform with some visual cues such as memes, quick feedback, leaderboards, and redemption questions. The observation and questionnaire data were collected during each assessment phase. The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) adapted for the study was used to gather data on the levels of intrinsic motivation before and after Quizizz use. The qualitative data were analyzed using the thematic approach while the quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive analysis and the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test. Among other things, the results from the sample suggest a clear improvement in learners' intrinsic motivation in the Quizizz gamified assessment. According to the Wilcoxon test result, there was a statistical significance in terms of intrinsic motivation between the two phases, V = 55, p = .00195, r = .855 (large effect). The average mean of the IMI also increased from 2.64 in the traditional phase to 4.42 in the Quizizz phase. As for the limitations of this study, the number of participants was too small – only ten learners from one online class. Therefore, the results cannot be generalized. Instead, the study suggests that well-designed Quizizz-based formative assessment could create a better motivational climate in the Saudi female online EFL classroom.