Enhancing Pre-Schoolers’ Learning Motivation in Jawi Subject Through Game-Based Learning Application

Abstract

Game-based learning applications are becoming increasingly popular as an effective means of enhancing student motivation to learn. Jawi, a subject often viewed as uninteresting by students, has decreased motivation to learn due to a lack of technology resources. To address this issue, the "Dunia Jawi" mobile application was developed as a game-based platform to improve preschoolers' motivation to learn Jawi. In this study, student motivation was measured based on the ARCS model, which consists of four components: attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction. The study involved a pre-experimental group of 32 preschoolers evaluated using the pretest-posttest design. The results found an increment in preschoolers' motivation, where the mean for the posttest ( 43.50) was higher than the mean for the pretest ( 31.47). The increment was statistically significant, indicating that the use of the "Dunia Jawi" mobile application led to a significant increase in motivation to learn Jawi among preschoolers. Moreover, each ARCS component showed an increment in attention, confidence, and satisfaction. The attention component refers to capturing students' interest and encouraging them to focus on the learning material. The confidence component refers to the student's belief in their ability to learn the material. The satisfaction component refers to the student's enjoyment of the learning experience. The results indicate that game-based learning applications, such as "Dunia Jawi," can enhance each component, thereby increasing student learning motivation. The relevance component, which deals with how the students view the value of the learning content, did not, however, experience any appreciable shift. The "Dunia Jawi" mobile application may not have had as much of an influence on this component as it could have because the preschoolers may not have seen the content as being applicable to their everyday lives. In conclusion, this study proves that game-based learning applications, coupled with the ARCS model, can enhance preschoolers' motivation to learn Jawi. The results demonstrate that the "Dunia Jawi" mobile application effectively increased preschoolers' motivation to learn Jawi, particularly in the attention, confidence, and satisfaction components. Future studies could explore ways to increase the learning material's relevance to further enhance preschoolers' motivation to learn.