The effect of digital badges specialization level of the subject on the achievement, satisfaction and motivation levels of the students

Digital badges are the components demonstrating competency and knowledge of the learners. The use of digital badges used to reflect the skills of learners is becoming increasingly widespread in the teaching environments. In addition, these badges are starting to take their places among documents such as certificates and diplomas. In this study, the relationship between digital badges rated in accordance with specialization levels of the same subject and achievement, satisfaction and motivation levels of the students has been investigated. In addition, the relationship between learning styles of the students participating in the study and their academic achievement and satisfaction levels were also presented. In this study, in which proximal parallel pattern of mixed research methods was used, quantitative and qualitative data were reviewed together. The sample of study consists of junior students of Ataturk University, Kazım Karabekir Education Faculty. 13-week study was conducted with a total of 51 participants including 26 female and 25 male students. The data of the study were obtained by academic achievement form, Kolb's learning style inventory III and semi-structured interview form. According to the results of study, it has been seen that digital badges improve academic achievement, students' motivation to learn, attendance to lesson and satisfaction of the students. They also motivate students to make them ready for class, show level of the learners, provide the possibility of self and peer-assessment and they can be also used to demonstrate the level of competence and achievement along with some other documents such as diploma or certificate. As a result, digital badges can be used to better organize the learning process and make students more active learners.