The game as a strategy of learning chemistry among high school students

Abstract

This study consists of a longitudinal research using an active methodology to teach the contents of the periodic table to high school students, based on project-based learning and WebQuest. The aim of this investigation is to study the relationship between learning the periodic table and the type of strategy that students choose to achieve the learning outcomes related to it. Throughout the learning process of the periodic table’s chemical elements we could see that, after giving total freedom to 260 students (during 5 years of investigation) in the construction of instructional materials which helped them learn the periodic table, 195 of them chose to develop a game as a tool. There was no significant difference between genders, showing that students prefer to learn in a playful, motivating and exciting way since they felt a greater interest and had a better evaluation of what they had learned about, reaching a deeper and lasting understanding, hence, a significant learning. Gamification and learning-based games are acquiring a relevant role in education centers and teachers who apply these methodologies in pedagogical approaches have increased.