Abstract:

Gamification makes use of elements related to the design of games in contexts other than games, by means of playful, interesting and recreational mechanisms it aims to generate learning environments in which the participant is actively involved in the teaching-learning process. It has been found that gamified learning environments increase the levels of motivation, participation and commitment of students, which could ultimately generate a positive effect on the academic performance and learning of the participants. In the area of computer programming learning, studies have been conducted in which computer-assisted gamification has been integrated with the objective of supporting the learning process in challenging topics for students. Generally, the qualitative results reported show remarkable effects in the different formative aspects analyzed due to the use of game elements in class. However, there are also studies that have contradicted these findings, showing that integrating gamification does not generate any significant effect on aspects such as motivation, participation, academic performance, among others. The analysis of the revised literature suggests that it is necessary to conduct more empirical studies related to the integration of gamification in order to understand the impact it generates in different educational aspects. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to present an experience in which the gamified tool CodeGym was integrated into the methodology of an Introduction to Computer Programming course. The data collected was used to perform a correlation analysis between the variables academic performance of students in the course and the number of achievements obtained by each participant in the completion of the game activities integrated in the gamified environment. Seventeen students participated in this study who were selected by the non-probabilistic convenience sampling technique and who interacted with CodeGym within the class methodology.

The academic performance is associated with the grades obtained by the students in the academic period and the achievements in the gamified environment were represented by the number of levels passed, "dark matter", achievements and medals obtained. The analysis of the data collected was carried out by means of statistical tests that revealed statistically significant correlations between the academic performance of the students in the subject and some gamified elements integrated in CodeGym. These correlations indicate that students who obtained more achievements in the development of activities in CodeGym obtained better academic performance. Possibly this is due to the fact that the students who practiced more through the gamified tool may have achieved a better understanding of the topics, evidencing their learning in the development of the evaluative examinations of the subject. The results of this experience provide a better understanding of the effects, benefits and challenges that exist in the integration of computer-assisted gamification in formative processes related to the area of Computer Programming.

Keywords:

Gamification, computer programming, computer-assisted gamified environments, academic performance.