Abstract:

Student disengagement and declining attendance in lecture-based courses remain persistent challenges in higher education, particularly in subjects traditionally taught through expository approaches such as physics and engineering. This work presents an innovative strategy to increase attention and participation by integrating a gamified system of hidden clues into the visual learning resources commonly used in lectures.

The initiative has been implemented in several groups of the course Physics II (Electromagnetism and Optics) at the University of Valladolid (Spain). Standard lecture slides are transformed into interactive materials by embedding subtle visual elements—such as icons, symbols, or graphical markers—that contain hidden clues. When detected and interpreted by students, these clues unlock additional challenges that progressively lead to a final problem related to the course contents. This structure encourages continuous attention during lectures while reinforcing key conceptual aspects of the subject.

The approach combines elements of gamification and challenge-based learning to promote active engagement, curiosity, and collaborative problem solving. Unlike isolated gamified activities, the system is integrated throughout the entire course, creating a narrative that unfolds during regular classroom sessions. Participation is voluntary and flexible, allowing students to progress at their own pace while remaining aligned with the learning objectives.

The project also aims to generate open educational resources (OER), including examples of gamified slide designs and challenge structures that can be adapted to other courses and disciplines. Since the approach relies primarily on visual teaching materials, it can be easily transferred to different subjects and degree programs.

The impact of the initiative is evaluated through quantitative and qualitative indicators, including attendance records, participation in the challenge, and student motivation surveys. Preliminary observations suggest that embedding gamified elements into existing lecture materials may represent a scalable and low-cost strategy to foster active learning without requiring major structural changes to course design, contributing to current discussions on gamification and student engagement in higher education.

Keywords:

Gamification, Student Engagement, Active Learning, Hidden Clues-Based Learning, Digital Learning Materials, Challenge-Based Learning.