PHYSIOTHERAPY DEGREE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF THE EFFECT OF GAMIFIED LEARNING THROUGH THE KAHOOT TOOL IN UNDERSTANDING, ATTENTION, AND CONTENT INTEREST

Introduction:
In the last decade, the use of gamification tools has demonstrated to be effective in encouraging students' motivation and learning. Among the gamification tools, the Kahoot application has been accepted by teachers for the introduction of active learning. The aim of this study was to assess the Physiotherapy Degree students’ perception of the effect of gamified learning using the Kahoot tool in understanding, attention, and content interest.

Methodology:
The Kahoot application was used as a gamification tool in the Kinesitherapy subject of the Degree in Physiotherapy of the University of Valencia. This subject was chosen as one of the main and the last of the three annual subjects of the Degree. In the first lesson, the teacher explained the tool functioning and presented a schedule of the subject. The subject was formed by ten sessions and all of them included a presentation of contents. Additionally, in five of them, students used the Kahoot tool in their smartphones as gamification interventions. They were asked to answer ten questions and they were given 20 seconds to solve each of them, taking advantage of the game and competition environment created by the Kahoot application. To assess the students' perception about the use of the Kahoot gamification tool, a total of 90 students completed a five-question questionnaire at the end of the subject, with a 5-point scale, from 0, "absolutely disagree" to 5, "absolutely agree". The questions broached the utility of Kahoot to facilitate the understanding of concepts, the increase of interest in the class content caused by the use of the smartphone, the increase of interest in the class content due to the use of Kahoot, the ability of the traditional class to increase the interest in the class content, and the fulfillment of the expectations of the subject, respectively.

Results:
The answers in the questionnaires revealed a positive students’ perception about the utility of Kahoot to facilitate the understanding of concepts (mean 4.04 (0.7)) and to increase the interest in the class content (mean 3.87 (0.81)). However, part of the responsibility of this increased interest in class content was attributed to the use of the smartphone, independent of the use of the application (mean 3.84 (0.99)). The ability of the traditional class to increase the interest in the class content was valued with the lowest score (mean 3.80 (0.86)). In general, the students appreciated that the subject, with the inclusion of traditional sessions and sessions with gamification, fulfilled their expectations (mean 4.09 (0.72)).

Conclusions:
Based on the results in class attendance, Kahoot is perceived as an effective gamified education tool to improve understanding, attention, and interest in the “Kinesitherapy” subject of the Degree in Physiotherapy.