Alternative gamification approaches in engineering education

Abstract

[EN] Motivating students eases their learning process. In this line, gamified activities are presented as an effective strategy but dependent on the context and students’ profile. The procedure to gamify several activities of a master course in engineering is detailed: preliminary analysis, justification of the selection of alternative gamifying strategies, definition of the indicators, including the proposal of a novel mood self-assessment strategy, and discussion of the obtained academic results. The main conclusion is that gamification improve students’ mood. In addition, time trial activities motive students but are detrimental to their marks, whereas the importance of choosing a suitable activity type and placing it in the correct calendar date is essential to its effectiveness.