Level up Your Mind: Digital Counseling Gamification to Increase Student Engagement in Guidance and Counseling Services

Lailan Syafira Putri Lubis; Wina Wulandari; Nurhayati Nurhayati; Sri Muliatik; Nurlela Nurlela; Farhanasyah Putri

doi:10.55927/ajcs.v4i11.457

Authors

Lailan Syafira Putri Lubis Universitas Alwashliyah Medan
Wina Wulandari Universitas Alwashliyah Medan
Nurhayati Nurhayati Universitas Alwashliyah Medan
Sri Muliatik Universitas Alwashliyah Medan
Nurlela Nurlela Universitas Alwashliyah Medan
Farhanasyah Putri Universitas Alwashliyah Medan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55927/ajcs.v4i11.457

Keywords:

Gamification, Digital Counseling, Student Engagement

Abstract

The Level Up Your Mind program was implemented at the At-Tanzil Guidance Studio in Malaysia to enhance student engagement in guidance and counseling services through a digital gamification approach. The activity aimed to develop students’ emotional awareness, regulation, and social-emotional skills. Conducted from August 20–23, 2025, the program included module preparation, implementation of five counseling games, and evaluation using observation and questionnaires. Results showed an increase in student attendance from 55% to 88%, along with improved emotion recognition and active participation. The program contributed to strengthening students’ emotional intelligence and provided an innovative, engaging, and sustainable model of counseling services for non-formal education institutions, particularly those serving Indonesian migrant children abroad.

References

Brookfield, S. D. (2017). Becoming a critically reflective teacher (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Cheng, V. W. S. (2023). Gamification for mental health promotion: A systematic review of the effectiveness of gamified interventions. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25(6), 1–15.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Springer.

Deterding, S. (2011). Gamification: Toward a definition. In Proceedings of the CHI 2011 Workshop on Gamification.

Gee, J. P. (2018). Teaching, learning, literacy in our high-risk high-tech world: A framework for becoming human. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. New York, NY: Bantam Books.

Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., & Sarsa, H. (2014). Does gamification work? A literature review of empirical studies on gamification. In Proceedings of the 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 3025–3034). IEEE.

Kottman, T., & Meany-Walen, K. (2018). Partners in play: An Adlerian approach to play therapy. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.

Lee, J. J., & Hammer, J. (2011). Gamification in education: What, how, why bother? Academic Exchange Quarterly, 15(2), 1–5.

Moltrecht, B., Patalay, P., Stapley, E., North, C., & Deighton, J. (2020). A digital intervention for children’s mental health: Development and feasibility of a CBT-based gamified app. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 25(3), 173–182. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12345.

Nugroho, A., Setiawan, H., & Lestari, D. (2025). Gamifikasi dalam layanan bimbingan konseling untuk meningkatkan partisipasi siswa. Jurnal Bimbingan Konseling Indonesia, 11(1), 15–28.

Prasetyaningrum, R., Wulandari, F., & Putra, Y. (2025). Inovasi konseling berbasis digital: Studi penerapan aplikasi mobile pada sekolah menengah. Jurnal Konseling dan Psikologi Pendidikan, 9(2), 101–115.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2020). Brick by brick: The origins, development, and future of self-determination theory. Advances in Motivation Science, 7, 111–156.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Wulan, S., Hakim, A., & Siregar, N. (2021). Pendidikan anak migran Indonesia di Malaysia: Tantangan dan strategi pembelajaran. Jurnal Pendidikan Luar Negeri, 5(2), 45–60.

Zainuddin, Z., Chu, S. K. W., Shujahat, M., & Perera, C. J. (2020). The impact of gamification on learning and instruction: A systematic review. Educational Research Review, 30, 100326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2020.100326.