Abstract:

Detection of errors introduced by the professor, i.e., error-based learning, may help to retain knowledge by the student during the learning process. In addition, gamification through platforms such as Kahoot! makes learning fun and interactive due to the use of quizzes and rewards that promote motivation among students, thus, helping in learning reinforcement. We hypothesized that academic performance will be improved if the professor deliberately includes errors and manages to motivate students to find them through gamification strategies. Moreover, the active search for these errors by groups of students was supposed to increase the dedication to the subject, the acquisition of knowledge and the promotion of teamwork. Thus, the objective of this research was to examine whether error detection by students, after intentionally introducing them by the professor during a master class, improves self-study and learning outcomes in university students, taking as an example those of the Nutrition Degree.

A total of 65 students enrolled in a second-year course participated in this study. A core subject was chosen for this study. Firstly, we selected two themes to introduce up to 10 errors in each theme (intervention themes). Additionally, two homologous themes, similar in size and difficulty, were selected from the syllabus of the subject; these themes did not include any errors (control themes). Each theme was covered in a master class. In the following classes quiz questions from these themes were implemented with Kahoot!, whereby every question included responses with and without errors. After every Kahoot! quiz (4 in total), the results of the responses were discussed, mainly regarding those including the errors. The evaluation exam included multiple choice questions following a similar procedure, for themes with and without errors. The number of positive responses (assessed as percentage) was compared between both groups of themes by Student´s t-test. In addition, we analyzed the effect of this experience on the final evaluation grade (independent variable) using linear regression models (dependent variable: positive responses in themes with errors vs without errors), controlling for variables such as gender and attendance rate. Statistical significance was set at 0.05 threshold.

Our results revealed that students who conducted error detection and subsequently completed self-regulation activities (Kahoot! quizzes and discussions) achieved better performance. The percentage of positive responses was 65% and 56% in themes with and without errors, respectively. This difference was statistically significant (p-value=0.02). There were no differences by gender regarding the rate of positive responses. Furthermore, the correlation analysis revealed that error detection assessed by the number of positive responses was positively correlated with the students’ performance (rho=0.36). In multivariate regression models, the final grade tended to increase with the ratio of positive responses in themes with errors vs those without errors (p-value=0.06).

In conclusion, our results suggest that intentionally introducing errors in the master classes and their subsequent identification by the student might be a tool with considerable potential in the teaching and learning process of subjects of the nutrition degree. To confirm our findings, this study will be extended to other subjects and university degrees.

Keywords:

Error-based learning, gamification, self-study, contributed equally.