Abstract:

No one doubts the importance of mathematics in everyday life, however didactics in this field may have had one of the poorest evolutions. Most teachers develop this subject using a model based on a repetition of exercises, resulting in a feeling of tedium for students and causing a lack of motivation.

This project proposes a gamification based tool, integrated in a problem-solving methodology, and incorporates motivational activities that start from an attractive approach: overcoming a challenge using acquired mathematical knowledge and building new ones.

It has created an easily replicable system consisting of a set of boxes, one into the other, closed by padlocks, keys, etc. in which clues are hidden. Only the resolution of the previous hint allows access to the next one. To achieve these challenges the students should collaborate promoting, on the way, cooperative learning. Thus, they must decode messages using ancient techniques, solving systems of equations whose solutions will be the key that will open the next lock, match some colors with their respective wavelengths and reveal hidden messages by ultraviolet light, so that progress is made on this knowledge adventure. The maximum available time to reach the goal will be one session- class.

Through the project, the game is recovered, which, in teaching, should never be abandoned. A playful way to work and learn can be achieved because mathematics is used eliminating the widespread belief by students and part of society that from a certain course they study this subject "for nothing".

Keywords:

Mathematics, Gamification, Problem-solving methodology, Learning by doing, Motivation.