Abstract:

Introduction:
In the educational field there is a clear effort for students to acquire their cognitive skills through different active learning methods, aimed at a more autonomous learning, to work collaboratively among equals and for the teacher to act more as a mediator. On the other hand, the tendency to use the motivating components of the game in other contexts is being consolidated, a phenomenon called gamification, with the aim of enabling students to face their learning better. The proposed teaching activity integrates autonomous student learning with collaboration in pairs through gamification.

The general objective of this work has been to implement a teaching activity that encourages autonomous learning in the classroom through the collaborative work of students, in a playful way, and to promote their active participation, optimizing the time of the theoretical classes.

Methodology:
For the development of this activity, we use photocopies of each file for the activity which is needed as material and it is given to students to work in pairs. We also need a stopwatch with alarm to end the exercise. The exercise is done at the end of each topic. The place of the activity is the classroom where the class is taught.

Results:
The activities proposed in the classroom as elements of gamification have been an effective tool to improve the qualifications of the students, so that the students who have participated have obtained better grades than those who did not perform the proposed activities. There is a positive correlation between the notes of the cards and proposed exercises and the grade obtained in the partial exam (p>0.001).

Conclusions:
The phenomenon of gamification appears as a new training practice in the university, with successful experiences in different areas. In the biosanitary field there are cases of gamification in the classroom and laboratory, where digital entertainment formats (video games), virtual simulators, digital books, etc. have been used as resources. Taking into account that the professors of the Physiology section have several experiences in the application of teaching innovation, with good acceptance by the students, this course has considered the inclusion of elements of gamification in the subject of Physiology of the first grade of Dentistry, by resolving in pairs questions about the physiological mechanisms of the body.

Keywords:

Gamification, cognitive skills, physiology activity, labelling.