With over 8 million educators globally using Kahoot!, we’ve heard many call Kahoot! a game-changer for engaging students in learning. But have you ever wondered how big of an impact Kahoot! really has on student learning outcomes?
To answer this question, we partnered with WiKIT, a consultancy that verifies the impact of EdTech solutions, to evaluate the strength of Kahoot!’s evidence base. Their meta-analysis of independent, peer-reviewed studies uncovered that use of Kahoot! delivers “significant learning gains,” including measurably improving students’ academic performance.
For this meta-analysis report, WiKIT on behalf of Kahoot! systematically analyzed 155 research articles involving Kahoot!, all conducted by independent researchers around the world. Based on strict quality criterias, 16 articles—with 2070 participants across primary, secondary and tertiary education—were included in the analysis to test the quantitative effect of Kahoot! on learning outcomes.
To measure Kahoot!’s overall effectiveness across these studies, the WiKIT researchers standardized the reported learning gains by converting them to effect sizes. These were then combined using a multilevel model to estimate Kahoot!’s average quantitative effect on learning outcomes.
The results were none less than impressive: using Kahoot! improved students’ learning by 0.72 standard deviations. This improvement equates to shifting a student from the 50th to the 72nd percentile or increasing performance by a full letter grade on a typical test. As the authors conclude, this report delivers, “comprehensive evidence for Kahoot! as a powerful learning technology across a wide range of educational contexts.”
In their report, WiKIT also recommends updating the effect size as even more high-quality, peer-reviewed studies appear in the years to come.
Powering the future of education with evidence-based learning solutions
This recognition from WiKIT follows years of independent research that has demonstrated the positive impact of Kahoot!, driven by supercharging engagement, motivation, and active participation in learning. Recently, we also announced that Kahoot! has been awarded the Silver badge for effectiveness by the International Certification of Evidence of Impact in Education (ICEIE), and has achieved ESSA Level III certification, showing “Promising Evidence” of positive impact on student learning outcomes. Now, this new report further demonstrates that Kahoot! works beyond creating engagement—it directly improves student learning.
“The high number of published research studies about Kahoot!’s quiz games speaks to the popularity of Kahoot! globally. WiKIT’s meta-analysis synthesizes the effect of these independent studies, showing significant learning benefits of using Kahoot!,” said Professor Natalia Kucirkova, Co-CEO of WiKIT and co-author of the report. “It is great to see Kahoot!’s dedication to evaluating the research conducted with its products and overall support for evidence that is increasingly demanded by the EdTech sector to deliver effective educational experiences for all learners.”
Ready to bring evidence-based learning to your school, school district, or higher education campus? Sign up for Kahoot! EDU or Kahoot!+ to get started today!
