Integrating Teaching Games for Understanding and Team Quest Gamification to Enhance Decision-Making Skills in Basketball among Junior High School Students

Abstract

Decision-making is a crucial cognitive-tactical component in basketball, as it determines student ability to select appropriate actions during the game. This study aimed to analyze the effects of Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU), Team Quest Gamification, and their interaction on the decision-making skills of junior high school students in basketball. A quantitative approach was employed using a 2×2 factorial pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design. The 32 participants were divided into four treatment groups, namely TGfU with Team Quest Gamification, TGfU without gamification, Direct Instruction with Team Quest Gamification, and Direct Instruction without gamification. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, gain scores, N-Gain, prerequisite tests, and Two-Way ANCOVA, with pretest scores serving as the covariate. The results revealed that the TGfU plus Team Quest Gamification group achieved the highest performance, with a post-test mean of 88.79, a gain of 40.54, and an N-Gain of 0.784 (classified as high). The TGfU without gamification and Direct Instruction plus Team Quest Gamification groups fell into the medium category, while the Direct Instruction without gamification group fell into the low category. Two-Way ANCOVA results indicated significant effects of the instructional model, gamification, and their interaction on decision-making. These findings suggest that integrating TGfU and Team Quest Gamification holds potential as an effective, contextual, and collaborative basketball teaching strategy focused on enhancing student tactical thinking skills. However, the results should be interpreted with caution due to the relatively limited number of participants.