STEM-Based Gamification for Bullying Prevention: Enhancing Empathy and Social Awareness through Science Learning in Elementary Schools
DOI:
10.29303/jppipa.v12i10.15110Published:
2026-10-13Downloads
Abstract
The study aimed to examine the effectiveness of STEM-based gamification in enhancing elementary school students’ empathy and social awareness as a strategy for bullying prevention. A quantitative approach with a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control group design was employed. The participants were 120 fifth-grade students from four elementary schools in Palu City, Indonesia, who were assigned to either an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group participated in STEM-based gamified learning, while the control group received conventional instruction. Data were collected using validated and reliable empathy and social awareness questionnaires, along with observation sheets, and were analyzed using paired-samples t-tests, independent-samples t-tests, ANCOVA, and Cohen’s d effect size. The results indicated that the experimental group demonstrated significantly greater improvements in empathy and social awareness than the control group (p < 0.05). The mean empathy score increased from 68.45 to 82.73, while the mean social awareness score improved from 70.12 to 84.05, with large effect sizes. These findings suggest that integrating gamification into STEM learning creates interactive, contextual, and collaborative learning experiences that foster students’ social-emotional competencies. Therefore, STEM-based gamification represents a promising science learning strategy for supporting bullying prevention in elementary schools.
Keywords:
Bullying Elementary school Empathy Gamification Social awareness STEMReferences
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