Integrating affective factors in inclusive education: Teachers' perceptions of gamification, empathy, attitudes, and students' academic motivation

Gamified learning environments (GLE) have attracted significant attention in inclusive education because they may be associated with students' engagement and motivation. The present study examined teachers' perceptions of the relationship between GLE and inclusive students' academic motivation, with teachers' empathy as a mediator and teachers' attitudes as a moderator. Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory guided this study. A cross-sectional survey design was employed. Participants were 656 elementary-level teachers working in public-sector inclusive schools in the Punjab, Pakistan. Data were collected using an online questionnaire and analyzed in jamovi. Pearson correlations, simple linear regression, mediation, and moderation analyses were applied. The findings revealed a significant positive association between teachers' perceptions of GLE and their perceptions of inclusive students' academic motivation. Teachers' empathy partially mediated this relationship, accounting for 39% of the total association. Teachers' attitudes also significantly moderated the relationship between GLE teachers' perceptions of students' academic motivation, although the interaction effect was relatively small. The findings suggest that gamified learning, teacher empathy, and positive attitudes are interrelated factors associated with teachers' perceptions of student motivation in inclusive classrooms. The study contributes to the literature by integrating environmental and affective factors in a Social Cognitive Theory framework and provides implications for inclusive education practice, policy, and future research.