Abstract:

Due to its complexity, the recent health crisis has meant that faculties' recommendations to incorporate more continuous assessment elements have been gaining weight. One of the most recent is gamification, a methodology for applying game dynamics in non-game contexts that most academics are still waiting to exploit. This function, can be easily applied to both face-to-face and digital learning environments. Given the experience of the last course, in general terms, students have not been very participative through digital media because of low motivation. Especially concerning accounting, a subject with a certain traditional vision that is not very flexible to dynamize the classes with the new ICTs.

Therefore, a methodology based on real-time questionnaires, with gamification and competition elements (PIC-UAL), has been incorporated into the continuous evaluation system in accounting courses during the academic year 2021/2022 at the University of Almeria. The main aim of this study is to analyze the acceptance of PIC-UAL and possible correlations of preliminary results for future research. The stages carried out to achieve this objective were as follows:
- To study the acceptance of the app, a survey has been conducted to determine variables such as demotivation, intrinsic motivation to knowledge, learning with PIC-UAL, commitment, challenge, developed skills, and benefits, among others.
- To examine the usefulness of the tool for memory stimulation, systematic repetitions of questions were carried out.
- To study the academic performance obtained in two mid-term exams, the concepts covered in the real-time quizzes and the rest of the questions that have not been the object of the evaluation through PIC-UAL were analyzed.
- For the possible correlations of the preliminary results, an exploratory analysis was realized.

Preliminary results show that the behavior of the variables is situated on average above 5 out of 7 (scale 1-7). It indicates a high level of motivation (around 70% of the students) with the chosen career and the usefulness of accounting for their professional future. A challenge turned into a commitment to learning using PIC-UAL with a fairly high acceptance. Likewise, the skills developed and the use of the software have reached high scores. Self-perception of academic performance in accounting has obtained middle scores in the used scale. The incorporation of the gamification elements in the assessment has brought some benefits to make the study more effective.

Regarding the percentage of correct answers to similar and/or the same questions used previously through the PIC-UAL app, was higher in both mid-term exams. In addition, it has been observed that this performance is strongly linearly related to age, the older students, the better results obtained. However, gender has a negative influence on these results, with men having a higher success rate. Finally, it has been found that men have accepted the tool better in terms of easy use and more effective learning provided.

Keywords:

Gamification, accounting, academic performance, motivation, engagement.