Abstract:

Within the context of different projects at Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) for improving the learning process through innovation, the “Tools and Strategies for Competences Assessment” (TASCA) group has developed and applied different strategies to assess students’ out-of-class work. This first work has allowed us to provide a continuous feedback to the students about the work done, so they can adapt their learning process and assimilated content accordingly. Additionally, it has also provided a feedback to the teachers, giving a unique opportunity to adapt the content of their speech at class, slides and activities to the learning outcomes of their students. The present work aims to take a further step and use game-based learning techniques to increase the motivation of the students in out-of-class work, their commitment with the activities and the percentage of finalization of the tasks.

Our students belong to a generation who has grown with information and technology all around, they are used to games and speed, and they like innovation. The use of social networks is also very common in their lives, as the personal contact has become more virtual than face-to-face. However, students’ attention and concentration skills are nowadays rather low, usually between 10 or 15 minutes of content with audiovisual support. Therefore, we are now involved in a new teaching scenario, in which it is necessary to adapt the teaching-learning strategies to make the process successful for these students.

The application of gamification strategies in out-of-class work can help to make the students to be more interested in their learning process. The goal is not to transform the proposed activities into games, but using those mechanics that make games successful to get the students to participate more actively and be more motivated by the proposed tasks, something essential if we talk about the work they must perform outside the class. The great potential of gamification to motivate and engage students in the proposed activities and to make them work many transverse skills is leading the TASCA group to consider that perhaps game-based learning is a good strategy for students to have fun learning when they are not in the classroom. What is sought with the gamification of activities is to increase the commitment of the student with the course, overcoming their tendency to procrastinate, as well as their natural resistance to engage in repetitive processes. In addition, and as it is well-known, learning through games promotes memorization and recall, making the process of contents assimilation deeper.

Thus, the purpose of this work is to improve the learning experience of students through the use of different gamification techniques, in order to enable the student to self-regulate their learning process and, in turn, increase her motivation and interest in participating in the process. The work will present which of existing gamification techniques are better suited to improve student out-of-class work in the context of engineering, architecture and tourism. The comparison of the results obtained in different subjects and different areas of knowledge will infer a useful guide for a good practice in the use of game-based learning in higher education. This guide is not only theoretical, but informs the teachers in their subjects how to deploy gamification strategies and what is the improvement expected in each case.

Keywords:

Innovation, gamification, game-based learning, out-of-class work.