Abstract:

The goal of this research is analyzing how competitive games influence the degree of motivation and involvement of the students in a given subject of the Degree in Business Management.

Along the last two academic years, we’ve developed a competitive multiple-choice test, composed by 8 rounds carried out after dealing with each lesson. The questions are shown in a screen, and they may include any audiovisual content (texts, audio, video, pictures…). Using an electronic device (smartphone, PC, tablet), the students have a limited time to answer. Then, all the participants get a feedback about the percentage of answers given to each alternative, as well as the updated classification.

The students can compete individually or in teams, in order to reinforce either their concentration or their leadership, debate capacity and active listening. The classification rewards the accuracy of the answers, as well as the speed and the streak of right answers achieved. Showing the classification after each answer increases the motivation of the students to give their best and be prepared for the test, so they study the subject on a continuous basis, which is the final academic goal of establishing this competition. The average attendance to these competitive sessions is over a 90%, and the academic success of the students that take part in them is a 93%. Also, the academic evaluation of the teachers who use this methodology given by the students gets over the average of the subject, being placed between 3,8 and 4,5 above 5 points.

Keywords:

Motivation, involvement, competition, understanding, attendance, teaching evaluation.