Educational gamification consists of the use of game elements and game design techniques in the educational context. The objective of this study is to examine the existing evidence on the impact of educational gamification on student motivation and academic performance in the last five years in order to analyze its distribution over time, educational level, variables, and most used game elements, and know the advantages of its implementation in the classroom. For this, a systematic review is proposed through the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology in three multidisciplinary databases, through an exhaustive search with inclusion and exclusion criteria on quantitative experimental studies that explore gamification in educational centers, which provide information about the most current lines of research. Fourteen studies were included in this review. These used experimental or quasi-experimental designs. Most of them report gamification as a valid learning strategy. The results support the conclusion that educational gamification has a potential impact on the academic performance, commitment, and motivation of students. Therefore, this study implies the need to expand research on the needs and challenges of students when learning with gamified techniques.

Included among the basic objectives of Physical Education (PE) classes is the consolidation of habits of a healthy lifestyle among adolescents. However, the main studies in this field have focused on cognitive aspects related to students during these classes, yet they ignore the role that emotions can play in the adoption of future habits. Objectives: To analyze how emotions (emotional intelligence and emotional state) can influence the resilience and motivation of adolescents, as well as academic performance and adoption of healthy lifestyle habits. Methodology: 615 secondary school students between the ages of 14 and 19 participated (M = 16.02; SD = 1.57) in the study. A structural equations model was developed using the main variables and by applying some of the principles of Self-Determination Theory. The results show that emotional intelligence is positively related to positive emotions and negatively related to negative emotions. Positive emotions positively predict both self-motivation towards physical education classes and resilience. Resilience positively predicts self-motivation. Finally, self-motivation acts as a predictor of both academic performance and regular participation in physical activity. Conclusions: This study successfully shows the importance of focusing on emotions in PE classes inasmuch as emotion increases the tendency to get good grades and maintain active lifestyle habits. In this sense, focusing on the emotions of students in PE could prove quite beneficial.

The academic transition to university is a turning point in young people’s lifestyles. However, studies to date have focused on student behaviour within the classroom context, rather than on the consequences it may have on their lifestyle. This study aims to analyze the influence of emotional intelligence of university students on their resilience, academic stress, exam anxiety, and eating habits related to the Mediterranean diet at the university stage. This study was carried out with the participation of 733 male and 614 female students from the University of Almeria, aged between 19 and 27. A structural equation model was made to explain the causal relationships between the variables. The results showed emotional intelligence positively predicted resilience. In turn, test anxiety and academic stress were negatively predicted by resilience. Finally, test anxiety and academic stress were negatively predicted by the Mediterranean diet. In short, the results of the present study have shown that academic transfer to university and grading pressure can generate maladaptive consequences for food consumption.

According to a WHO report (2018), more than 80% of adolescents do not do enough physical activity. Physical Education (PE) classes should be aimed at solving this problem. The present study aims to analyze the influence teachers have on motivation, embarrassment and intention to be physically active among their students. A total of 604 secondary school students participated in the study. Various statistical analyses were carried out to explain the causal relationships between the variables. The results revealed a positive relation between the autonomy support and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs (BPN), and a negative relation with the frustration of BPN. In contrast, perceived control revealed a positive relation with frustration of BPN, and a negative relation with the satisfaction of BPN. Satisfaction of BPN was negatively related to embarrassment and positively related to self-determined motivation. On the other hand, frustration of BPN was positively related to embarrassment and negatively with self-determined motivation. Embarrassment was negatively related to self-determined motivation, and the latter was positively related to intention to be physically active. Indeed, the study demonstrates the influence and the importance of PE teachers and of the motivational and emotional processes of adolescents during PE classes and the role they play in acquiring the habits of an active lifestyle.

According to various WHO reports in 2018, a large number of adolescents worldwide are either overweight or obese. This situation is the result of not following a healthy and balanced diet, combined with a lack of practice of physical activity. In this sense, Physical Education classes could help to solve the problem. The present study seeks to analyze the relationship between the role of the teacher in relation to the structural dimensions of the PE teaching environment and the basic psychological needs and self-motivation of adolescents as determinants of their behaviors related to eating habits and the practice of physical activity. A total of 1127 secondary school adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 participated in this study. Questionnaires were used: Perceived Autonomy Support Scale, Psychologically Controlling Teaching Scale, Basic Psychological Needs in Physical Education, Frustration of Psychological Needs in PE context, Physical Activity Class Satisfaction Questionnaire, Perceived Locus of Causality Revised, and WHO’s Global school-based student health survey. A structural equations model was elaborated to explain the causal relationships between the variables. The results showed that autonomy support positively predicted the three structural dimensions of PE classes, while, in contrast, they were negatively predicted by psychological control. The three structural dimensions positively predicted the satisfaction of psychological needs and negatively predicted the thwarting of psychological needs. Self-determined motivation was positively predicted by the satisfaction of psychological needs and negatively predicted by the thwarting of psychological needs. Finally, self-determined motivation positively predicted healthy eating habits and the practice of physical activity and negatively predicted unhealthy eating habits. Certainly, the results obtained in this study support the postulates of the self-determination theory, demonstrating the predictability of PE class context towards the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits, such as a proper diet and the regular practice of physical activity.