Abstract:

In a volatile and increasingly digital world, with rhythms (of life, learning, and experimentation) becoming more fast-tracked, it is with no surprise that students’ engagement and ability to focus have become one of the greatest challenges for higher education teachers. Despite the growing interest surrounding student-centred and active teaching and learning methodologies, there seems to be a growing disconnection from students, which hinders their learning and professional growth, making it necessary to invest in research, as well as the development of more meaningful and engaging strategies.

In tourism education, game-based approaches have been successfully pointed out as strategies that enhance students’ motivation to act, by making learning more attractive and fun. Likewise, experiential learning methodologies (in general) have proved to be especially suitable within this setting since many of the skills to be developed are best worked on through learning-by-doing activities.

Within the scope of this study, researchers have used gamified approaches that include board games and quizzes (e.g., Kahoot and student response systems such as Socrative), as well as other activities where game principles have been adopted to create more attractive and challenging learningscapes.

Based on the data collected through classroom observation and students’ perceptions and results (e.g., their quiz scores), researchers were able to conclude that students are open and motivated to engage in gamified approaches. Moreover, despite the more relaxed and playful environment of these activities, students' ability to focus is greater, as is their involvement in the tasks to be performed. The findings also suggest that using games can help teachers pinpoint and address students’ doubts more quickly and effectively, which in some cases is enhanced with technology playing an instrumental role in collecting and recording data. In addition, gamified strategies proved to be reliable and simple to use, having yielded valuable insights on learners’ progress and the way they learn.

Keywords:

Gamification, Game-based Learning, Experiential Learning, THE.