Gamificación en el aulagincana de programación

Abstract

The application of gamification, as a fun way to learn by means of games, is a growing technique in educa- tion nowadays. The use of a playful environment in educational activities increases students’ motivation and participation, so the learning process is improved. In this paper, the application of a serious game in the Fundamentals of Programming subject of the Com- puter Science and Statistics degree is shown. More specifically, the game was designed for the learning of iterative control structures. The activity consists of several trials of increasing difficulty following a gymkhana like game. The game is set in the Harry Potter universe to make the activity more attractive and to unify the game dynamic. The activity was set up as a tournament where the participant “houses” competed. The results were very satisfactory, with a noticeable increase in students’ motivation and an improvement in their participation in the subject, which were the desired goals.