MOTIVATION OF STUDENTS THROUGH THE GAMIFICATION TECHNIQUE IN THE SUBJECT OF THEORY OF STRUCTURES

This work expect to improve the teaching-learning process of the subject of “Teoría de Estructuras – Theory of Structures) of the Degree in Civil Engineering and of the Degree in Engineering of Energy Resources and Mining of the University of Córdoba (Spain), with the use of innovative teaching practices that improve the academic results of the students.

Nowadays, the university teacher must not only have knowledge of the subjects taught, but it is necessary to incorporate different methodologies or teaching techniques to transmit skills to their students, in order to achieve continuous improvement of the teaching-learning process.

The introduction of the gamification technique has allowed a more active participation of students and has encouraged the acquisition of skills, as well as learning in a more relaxed environment. The work climate has remained more active. In addition, this technique has made it possible to detect the point of fatigue of the students during the lectures.

The tool used to implement the gamification technique and evaluate the academic level of the students during the classes has been the free access web platform "Kahoot, which is a system of answers in the classroom based on the game for schools, universities and companies. Students can download it on their electronic devices and/or access it through its website (https://kahoot.it/#/). With this, the students have made use of their mobile phones or electronic devices to contribute to their learning in the classroom, and put aside their inappropriate use (social networks, sports news, etc.), avoiding one of the main problems that teachers have in class currently.

For each lecture, the online questionnaires were carried out using the Kahoot learning platform composed of questions associated with the theoretical/practical concepts that given. This procedure has allowed a continuous evaluation of the student, and indirectly of the teacher, since it is verified in real time if there is any concept that needs to be reinforced.

While the questionnaires were carried out, it has been observed that the students themselves have participated in the clarification of possible question from their classmates, and have even made the teacher reconsider the way of explaining and presenting the lesson, which shows that this technique has promoted the feedback between student-teacher and student-student, encouraging a good working climate and ending the sessions in a fun way, which has allowed to increase the student's performance.

The results obtained have reflected a final positive evaluation of the subject for the most of students who have participated in the lectures. With respect to past courses, students have had less difficulty in passing the subject and in the acquisition of skills. It is important to highlight the degree of satisfaction of the students, and especially of the repeating the subject students, who have achieved to pass the subject in an easier way thanks to the use of gamification techniques.