Abstract
Gamification is usually understood as a pedagogical strategy that favors student engagement and motivation. Traditionally it is composed of dynamics, mechanics, and components. The purpose of this study was to compare Engineering and Economics and Social Sciences undergraduate students in their performance (grades), motivation, quality of assignments, participation, and emotion when their teachers used gamification as an innovative teaching method during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pearson correlations, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Mann–Whitney test were conducted. Additionally, four students were interviewed to describe the emotional downside of the lockdown. The main results indicate that there are higher positive relationships among variables in the Engineering undergraduate students rather than in Economics and Social Sciences and show that emotion poorly correlates with performance, especially for the Economics and Social Sciences students, as many have a negative attitude toward learning mathematics. Additionally, gender and scholarship status are not differential factors. Gamification proved to be a useful pedagogical strategy to promote participation and enhance motivation among undergraduate students, particularly in a context of academic confinement. This study gives teachers an idea of the benefits and extent to which gamification can be used in the classroom.
Highlights
In March 2020, Mexico declared a state of health emergency due to the accelerated spread of COVID-19, which meant that only essential activities remained open, forcing the majority of the population to stay at home
Engineering students showed greater preference for the mathematical challenges while Economics and Social Sciences students were prone to class participation
The results show that the mechanics of rewards motivated more Engineering students to perform activities of higher quality, to be more attentive and participative, and more excited, than Economics and Social Sciences students
Summary
In March 2020, Mexico declared a state of health emergency due to the accelerated spread of COVID-19, which meant that only essential activities remained open, forcing the majority of the population to stay at home. The education sector, both public and private, closed its doors, leaving behind coexistence and face-to-face learning [1]. Education was immediately converted to a remote and online capacity, accessible only to the privileged student population with access to technology and good internet service [2]. Various studies found that the changes due to the health emergency have altered the emotional state of students [4].
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