Abstract:

The educational breakout is a gamified activity in which students have to solve a series of challenges or missions to open padlocks or a closed suitcase in the context of a training activity. Several previous studies have shown that the use of gamified activities can have positive effects by increasing student engagement and motivation, but most of these studies have been conducted with primary and secondary school students. As an alternative, this study investigates the implementation of the game Breakout as a gamification strategy in the context of Vocational Education and Training (VET). The aim of this research is to explore the impact of the Breakout game on students' learning outcomes, as well as to examine their perceptions and experiences. Using a mixed methods approach, data were collected through surveys and interviews with 45 students who participated in this activity in the Biochemical Analysis vocational module of the second year of the Higher Level VET Cycle of Clinical and Biomedical Laboratory Technician at Sancti Petri School. In the game, the students had 30 minutes to solve a series of theoretical and practical tests to finally manage to open the locks on a suitcase. At the end of the educational breakout, the students who had participated in the game were asked to fill in an ad-hoc questionnaire in which they had to evaluate various aspects on a scale of 1 to 5, and interviews were conducted and recorded. The students indicated that participating in the educational breakout game was a lot of fun (4.90 points) and in their opinion more games of this type should be carried out in the training cycles (4.83 points). Furthermore, they considered that this game helped them to learn the subject (4.4 points), that it was useful for the exam (4.13 points) and that it motivated them to study the training module (4.4 points). The educational breakout is an effective methodology, stimulates learning and motivates Vocational Training students to study. The results suggest that the gamification strategy using the breakout game has the potential to improve students' learning outcomes and promote active participation in the educational process. These results contribute to the growing body of literature on gamification in education and provide practical recommendations for educators interested in incorporating game-based approaches into their teaching practices.

Keywords:

Gamification, educational breakout, vocational education and training, student engagement, learning outcomes.