Gamifying evaluation: An alternative to traditional evaluation in primary education

Abstract

Nowadays, the incorporation of educational actions with a playful nature into learning processes is increasingly common; among them, gamification stands out. Nonetheless, these projects often do not pay enough attention to the assessment of the learning produced during the teaching process itself; normally resorting to summative evaluation systems, such as, for example, the traditional exams, at the end of the project. In the present pre-experimental study, based on a mixed methodology and in the context of a gamified didactic unit with 24 pupils in 6th grade of Primary Education in the Natural Science subject, the potential of a gamified formative evaluative system is evaluated. This system is composed of the use of experience points and the traditional class diary, or teacher's notebook, as an evaluation tool technologically renewed. The results show that the system is effective for the evaluation of both academic performance and transversal educational aspects such as the cooperative work, the interest in class or the monitoring of daily students' work. In addition, pupils show a high level of motivation with the gamified dynamics implemented during the study.