Gamifying Classical Guidance: Enhancing Career Understanding for University Major Selection Among Indonesian High School Students

Abstract

High school students frequently experience confusion regarding university major selection, a critical developmental task. Conventional guidance methods often lack engagement for Generation Z. Previous studies have predominantly relied on passive, lecture-based career counseling, which fails to address the interactive and digitally-native preferences of contemporary adolescents, resulting in suboptimal career exploration outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of classical guidance services integrated with gamification in enhancing students' career understanding. Employing a quantitative one-group pretest-posttest design, the study involved 27 Grade XI students. Data were collected using a validated Career Understanding Questionnaire and analyzed using the Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Test. The gamified intervention yielded a statistically significant improvement in career understanding (Z = -4.54, p < .001), with mean scores increasing from 76.04 to 97.78. Notably, 48% of students shifted from the 'low' to higher understanding categories, effectively eliminating the lowest performance tier and demonstrating consistent positive trajectories across self-understanding and career planning dimensions. The novelty of this study lies in adapting gamification principles into classical group guidance, aligning with Self-Determination Theory to foster intrinsic motivation. These findings provide educators and school counselors with a scalable, interactive strategy to effectively deliver career support in resource-constrained settings. This underscores the critical need for integrating digital pedagogy into counselor professional development to better engage and support digital-native students.