Gamification strategy for the teaching and learning of electrical welding in technical high school

Abstract

Introduction: High school students often face difficulties in learning electric welding due to technical complexity and lack of connection to immediate practical applications. The gamification strategy can transform these barriers into opportunities by turning learning into an interactive and motivating experience. By integrating challenges, rewards, and playful elements, teachers can make the subject more dynamic and engaging, thus facilitating the understanding of key concepts, and encouraging greater student engagement. Objective: To develop gamification strategies that enrich the process of teaching and learning electric welding in the technical baccalaureate. Methodology: The study was based on a quasi-experimental post-test and control group design. The sample consisted of 26 third-year high school students distributed in two predetermined groups that made up the experimental and control groups. While the experimental groups were exposed to instructional strategies that incorporated gamification tools, the control group was trained using traditional methods. To evaluate the results, two multiple-choice questionnaires of 10 questions were administered in the post-test, designed by the authors, and validated by experts. The analysis of the broad questions posed in the study was conducted using descriptive statistics. In addition, independent and paired t-tests were used to compare post-test scores between groups and determine the presence of significant differences. Results: The results of the study show that the gamification strategy applied to the experimental group was significantly more effective than the traditional method used in the control group. The students in the experimental group achieved an average improvement of 4.23 points between the pre-test and the post-test, reaching a final average of 8.77/10, while the control group improved 3.08 points with an average of 7.08/10. In addition, all students in the experimental group mastered the learning established by the Ministry of Education of Ecuador, while in the control group several students were at lower levels. These findings confirm that gamification facilitates conceptual understanding and knowledge transfer in technical topics such as electric welding. Conclusion: The study confirms that gamification is an effective strategy to improve the teaching of electric welding in technical high school, surpassing traditional methods. The students in the experimental group achieved significantly higher performance, with greater mastery of learning, evidencing that the integration of interactive tools such as Genially increases motivation, comprehension, and retention of knowledge. These results underline the potential of gamification to address complex technical content and suggest its application in other educational contexts to optimize teaching-learning processes. General area of study: Education. Specific study area: Welding. Type of article: original.