Artificial Intelligence as an empowering tool for synthesizing gamified pedagogical strategy in Physical Education

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most recent technological advancements that educators aspire to explore, yet its utilization as a means of synthesizing gamified pedagogical strategies in Physical Education (PE) classes were not fully investigated academically. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of AI-powered gamified strategies in the academic performance of the learners in PE. To arrive at the findings of this quasi-experimental research, a pre-test and posttest procedure was first conducted among two sections, each with forty (40) Grade 7 students; one of them was designated as the experimental group while the other was the control group. After administering the assessments mentioned, a focus group discussion was conducted among ten (10) learners under the experimental group; phenomenological approach was employed. T-tests and Mann- Whitney U were employed as inferential statistical procedures to ascertain the significant difference between the pretest and posttest within and across the groups, while thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the qualitative accounts of the selected learners. According to the findings of the study, both the control and experimental groups gained an increase in their post test results as compared with their pretest, but the latter gained a higher mean difference. The paired t-test within the groups both garnered a p-value that were less than 0.001, rendering the significant difference between the pretest and posttest of both the experimental and control groups. Then, the Mann-Whitney U results between the pretest data from both the control and experimental groups calculated a p-value of 0.828, showing no significant difference in the said assessments. On the contrary, a p value of 0.011 was recorded between the posttest results of both the experimental and control groups, therefore exhibiting a significant difference when the said statistical method was utilized. Lastly, the themes identified during the focus group discussion were as follows: positive affective responses, promoted understanding and retention of lessons, and development of skills beyond cognitive dimension. All these findings posited that AI-powered gamified strategies in PE classes have the capability to enhance the academic performance of the learners in the subject, thus, it could possess a potential to improve learners’ scholastic achievement while lifting the workload of the PE teachers.