Gamification and discovery learning: Motivating and involving students in the learning process

Heliyon 9 (2023) e13135

Available online 23 January 2023

2405-8440/© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Contents lists available atScienceDirect

Heliyon

journalhomepage:www.cell.com/heliyon

Research article

Gamification and discovery learning: Motivating and involving students in the learning process ^✩

Iñigo Aldalur

, Alain Perez

MondragonUnibertsitatea,Loramendi4,Mondragon,20500,BasqueCountry,Spain

A RT I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords:

Gamification Discoverylearning WebQuest

Thewidespreaduseofnewtechnologiesbystudentshasforceduniversitiestoincludeactive methodologiesintheirpedagogy.ThisprocesshasacceleratedduetotheCOVID-19pandemic, introducinginnovative changesin pedagogy.This hasmotivated many lecturersto increase studentmotivation.Theneedtokeepthestudents’attentionduringlongandtedioustheoretical sessionshasmotivatedthiscontribution.Furthermore,theneedforstudentstodeveloptheirWeb searchskillsanddevelopmentofindividualexpertiseandparticipationinafinalgroupprocess thatattemptstotransformnewlyacquiredinformationintoamoresophisticatedunderstanding hasinspiredthiscontribution.Thispaperpresentstheresultsobtainedfromtheimplementation ofgamificationandDiscoveryLearninginstructionalmodelintheSoftwareEngineeringsubject oftheComputerSciencedegreeinthecourse2021/2022.Thejointuseofgamificationandthe DiscoveryLearninginstructionalmodelthroughWebquestshasneverbeenstudiedbefore.They helpstudentstobetteracquiretheknowledgetaughtinclass.Thegapinthecombinationuseof gamificationandDiscoveryLearninginstructionalmodelcomparedtopreviousstudiesusingone singlemethodshowanimprovementinacademicresults,greatermotivationonthepartofthe students,greatercreativityandabilitytoputwhattheyhavelearnedintopractice.

1. Introduction

Thedigitalizationofrecentyearshasbroughtmanychangesinsociety,andespeciallyineducation.Today’syoungpeopleare digitalnatives,andtheirinformationconsumptionhascompletelychangedcomparedtothatoftheirparents.Youngpeopleuseall digitalmediatocommunicateandinformthemselves(theyareabletousetheirsmartphones,tabletsorcomputersforhours)and universitieshaverealizedthis.Forthisreason,universitiesaretryingtoadapttochangebytryingtoincludeinnovativepedagogical methodologies[24,22].

These newtechnologiesallowforbetter communicationbetweenthelecturerandthestudent.Theyalsomake studentsfeel comfortablewithtoolstheyalreadyknow.Traditionalclassesaredemotivatingforthem,andtheydonotpayattentiontowhatthe lecturersays.Thisisoneofthemainreasonswhylecturersareincludingnewtechnologiesintheroom.However,thesetechnological advancesneedtobeevaluatedastheexperienceisoftennotthesamefromthepointofviewofstudentsandlecturers[20].

✩ ThisworkwascarriedoutbytheSoftwareandSystemsEngineeringresearchgroupofMondragonUnibertsitatea(IT519-22),supportedbytheDepartmentof Education,UniversitiesandResearchoftheBasqueGovernment.

*

**

E-mailaddresses:[email protected](I. Aldalur),[email protected](A. Perez).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13135

Theabilityofbeingcontinuouslyconnectedthroughdigitaldevicesrivalstheabilitytoconcentrateandlearn.Forthisreason,it isnecessarytobeverythoroughwhenincludingactivemethodologiesthatincludenewtechnologiesintheroom.Alwaysmustbe takeninmindthatsuchusemustberationalandbeneficialtothelearningprocess.

Ithasbeenshownthatthemotivationandinvolvementofstudentsinthelearningprocessisfundamentalfromtheneurological pointofview[21].Therefore,innovativeacademicproposalshavebeenaccomplishedineducationinordertolookforstudents interestthroughactivemethodologiesandmodelsasastructuretoenhancemotivationandimplication[13,3].

DuetotheCOVID-19pandemic,manyoftheclassesbecameonlinefromonedaytothenext.Thediscouragementofthestudents increasedinthisperiodduetothelackofinteractionwithclassmatesandlongtheoreticalandlittlepracticalclasses[6].Forthis reason,oneoftheprioritiesforthenextcourseswastoincreasetheirmotivation.Oneofthemainchallengesthatalecturerfaces whenitcomestolearningismotivation.Motivationisdemonstratedbypersonalchoicetoengageinanactivityanddeterminesthe intensityofeffortandpersistenceinthatactivity[16].Thefollowingyearthehybridclassesreturnedinwhich2dayswereonline and3inperson.Ithasnotbeenuntilthe2021/2022academicyearwhentheimprovementofmotivationhasbeencarriedout, includinggamificationandDiscoveryLearningtothelectureroom.

Gamificationisastrategicattemptthatcanturnlearningintoanimmersiveactivity.Perrottaetal.[34] pointoutthatlearning throughenjoymentandfuncanbe ameansofintroducingstudentstoastateofflow.AccordingtoKapp,gamificationis“using game-based mechanics,aesthetics andgamethinking toengagepeople, motivateaction,promote learning,andsolveproblems”

[25].Introducinggamificationinthemosttheoreticalpartofthesubject,aimstomakestudentsmoremotivated.Anotherobjective isthatthestudentscanpayattentiontowhatthelecturersaysandthattheydonotdisconnectduringthisprocess.Studentsmust be focused.Thetheoreticalaspectsofallsubjectsaremonotonousbutimportantforstudents.Thentheyneedtheseconceptsto carryoutthepracticalpartandwithouttheseconcepts,theyarenotcapable.Gamesmustbeadjustedtotheirneedsandstudents’

characteristics[44,26].Thisiscalledadaptivegamification,which“istakingcareofthegamificationthateachparticularuserneeds inaparticularmoment,tailoringthegamificationtotheusersandcontexts”[4].

Secondly, “Discovery Learning is seen as a promising way of learning for several reasons, themain being that the active involvementofthelearnerwiththedomainwouldresultin abetterstructuredbaseofknowledgeforthelearnerasopposedto moretraditionalwaysoflearning,whereknowledgeissaidtobemerelytransferredtothelearner”[39].WebQuestsarethemain exponentoftheDiscoveryLearninginstructionalmodel[19].WebQuestswerecreatedinthedecadeofthe1990sbytwoteachers, BernieDodgeandTomMarch.Dodgewastheonewhoinitiallydevelopedthistool,whosepurposewastodevelopinstudentsthe abilitytobrowsetheInternetwithaclearobjective:tolearntoselectandretrievedatafrommultiplesourcesanddevelopthinking skillscritical[10].Asaconsequence,WebQuestsareapowerfultooltoinducestudents’criticalthinking[7].Criticalthinkingis adisciplinaryprocessthatproposestoanalyze,synthesizeandevaluateinformation,insuchawaythatknowledgeisorganized, reachingacorrectpositiononaspecifictopic,atthesametimebeingobjectivewhenanalyzingorextractinganidea basedon theobservation,experience,reflection,reasoningattachedtocommunication[11].Criticalthinkingskillisfundamentalforevery softwaredevelopersandthegoalistheirfurtherimprovementinthelectureroom.Furthermore,despitebeingcomputerscience students,theyhavedifficultiesfindinginformationontheInternetwhentheywanttosolveaproblem.Itisverycommontoreceive emailfromstudentswithaprogrammingproblemwhoseansweriseasilyfoundwithasimplesearch.“WebQuestactivityisahelpful formofscaffoldingforpromotinglearners’positivelearningexperiencesregardingorganizinginformationandproblem-solvingand reasoningskills”[40].

Similarto[29] withDiscoveryLearningwithEnglishinHongKong,wetriedtofindthegapofDiscoveryLearninginSoftware Engineeringsubject.Similarly,itisdifficulttofindpapersapplyingDiscoveryLearninginSoftwareEngineeringsubjects[18,23].

TheuseofgamificationinSoftwareEngineeringsubjectsismuchmorewidespread[32,2].ThejointuseofDiscoveryLearningand GamificationhasbeenstudiedonlyforgamifiedWebquests[35,42,28].Nonetheless,theuseofbothseparately,indifferentclass activitiesinthesamesubjecthasnotbeenstudied,anditisagapthatthiscontributiontriestosolve.Inaddition,thispaperfocuses onthesubjectofSoftwareEngineeringandtriestoevaluatetheuseofeachdisciplineseparatelyandif,asawhole,hasservedto improvetheacademicresults.

Inthiscontext,thispaperpresentstheexperienceofaddinggamificationandDiscoveryLearningthoughWebQuestsinaSoftware Engineering subject in a Computer Science degree. The receptionof this experience has been quantitativelyand qualitatively measured,answeringthefollowingresearchquestions:

• RQ1:Howcanacademicresultsbebetter?

• RQ2:WhyarethestudentsmotivatedtoplaywithWooclapandwithgamification?

• RQ3:WhydoesWooclapandgamificationmakestudentsstudy/learnmore?

• RQ4:Whatisthelevelofparticipants’agreementaboutthestepsofWebQuestprojectintermsofintroduction,task,process, resources,evaluation,andconclusion?

• RQ5:WhataretheperceptionsofparticipantstowardsworkingwithWebQuestprojectsintermsofplanningskills,problems faced,implementation,real-lifeexperience,popularandunpopularfeatures,suggestions,andintegrationideas?

Theremainderofthisdocumentisstructuredasfollows:Section2presentsrelatedworksonthegamificationandDiscoveryLearning instructionalmodelthroughWebQuests.Section3presentsthecasestudyofthiswork,includingthemotivationandimplementation of theinitiative.Section4describestheresults obtainedin theexperienceansweringtheresearch questions.Finally,Section5 presentstheconclusionsandfuturelinesofaction.

2. Relatedwork

Theuseofseverallearningtechniquesinthesamesubjectisnotthemostcommon.Mostofthepaperspresentonlyone.Itismuch moredifficulttofindpapersthatcombinegamificationandWebQuests.However,wecanfindintheliteratureafewworksthatuse gamificationandWebQuests.Forexample,Petroulisetal.[35] usegamifiedWebQuests.Theyhaveplanned8workshops,inwhich theyhavedevelopedaWebQuestforeachofthem.TheseWebQuestsaregamifiedwithquizzes,andthelecturerevaluatesandscores theachievementsobtainedbyeachgroupbasedontherubricpublishedforthispurpose.Espinosa[42] hasimplementedaWebQuest inwhich4activitieshavebeenincluded.Theseactivitiesare4differentgameswithwhichstudentslearnEnglishlexis.Finally,Levitt andPiro[28] inasimilarwaytothepreviousworkswantstogamifytheWebQuesttomotivatethestudentsofgraduateeducation courses.TheseteachertrainingstudentsmustcreatedifferentWebQuestsinwhichthetasksaregamifiedactivitiesfortheirstudents.

Inthisway,studentslearnhowtocreateWebQuestsandalsodesigngamifiedactivitiesfortheirstudents.Itcanbeobservedthatall theseworksincludegamificationdirectlyintheWebQuests,theydonotdeveloptwocompletelydifferentiatedactivities.Inourcase, thetheoreticalpartsusegamificationtofurtherengagestudentsandtheWebQueststodeveloptheirskillsingroupsandstrengthen whattheyhavelearnedthroughtheDiscoveryLearninginstructionalmodel.

AllthesecontributionshaveusedWebQueststhathavegamifiedthem.Innocasehavetheyusedbothmethodsseparatelyand checkthebenefitstheycouldbring.ThesepapersrefertothemotivationandinvolvementofthestudentsintheWebQuests.However, noneofthesepapersrefertoacademicresults,whethertheyarebetter,worseorremainthesame.

Theuseofgamificationintheeducationalenvironmentiswidespread.Therearehundredsofworksthathaveusedgamification tomotivatetheirstudentsandtrytoimprovetheknowledgeof theirsubjects.Forexample,Garcia-Cabotetal.[15] haveused gamification with27 studentsintheMasterdegreeofSoftwareEngineeringfortheWeb.Theycompare theresults obtainedby comparingacontrolgroupandagroupthathasusedgamification,obtainingbetteracademicresults,thelatter.Thisprocesswas carriedoutovertwoweekswith5teachinghourseach.Thestudentsfeltthatgamificationwasbeneficialtointroducethebasic conceptsofthesubject.Theplatformusedforgamificationimprovedtherelationshipsbetweenstudentsandmadelearningmore participatoryandmotivatingforthestudents.Intheprocess,eachassignmentwasscored,andarankingwasgeneratedwitheach student’sscore.Pedersenetal.[33] introducedgamificationin theAdvancedQuantumMechanicscourse,in which47students participated.Similarlytothepreviousstudy,twogroupswerecompared,acontrolgroupandanothergroupinwhichthecourse wasgamified.Theresultsobtainedshowbetteracademicresultsinthegroupthatusedgamification.Theprocesslasted7weeks, inwhichinallsessions,between10and20minuteswerededicatedtogamifiedactivitieswiththeobjectiveoflearningthebasic conceptsofthesubject.49studentsparticipatedinKyewskiandKrämer’sexperiment[27],inwhichtheyaskedthemselveswhether itwasworthwhiletogamifyanonlinesubject.Theresultscomparetoacontrolgroupandsurprisinglytheacademicresultswere worseinthegroupthatusedgamification.Thegamifiedsubjectwasapsychologyseminar,andtheprocesstookplacethroughout thesemester. Theresults showthat thebudgetshaveno influenceinmotivating thestudentswiththesubjecttoobtainbetter academicresultsortoobtainbetterresultsinthequizzes.Sánchez-MartínandCañada-Cañada[36] gamifiedthewholesemesterof thesubjectMatterandEnergyinPrimaryEducationDegree.36studentswereinvolved,inwhichtwogroupsweredifferentiated, acontrolgroupandtheothergroupthatusedgamification.Thestudentswhoweremoreinvolvedinthegameclearlyobtained betteracademicresults.Foreachgame,studentsearnedanumberofpointsbasedontheirachievements.StansburyandEarnest[38]

evaluated93studentsincollegepsychologycourses.Theseclasseslastedtheentirecourse(1year)with350-minutesessionsper week.Thecomparisonbetweenthegamifiedandcontrolgroupshowsanimprovementinacademicresults.Theresultsshowthatthe studentsweremoremotivated,moreinvolvedandparticipativeinthesubject,aswellasenjoyingtheclassesmore.Foreachgame, aseriesofpointswereobtainedandstudentscouldacquiredifferentlevelsbasedontheresultsobtained.Finally,Fernandez-Antolin etal.[12] involved171studentsinthearchitecturedegree.Twogroupswerecompared,acontrolgroupandanotherinwhichthe subjectwastaughtgamified.Theresultsshowthatthestudentshaveassimilatedthetechnicalconceptsbetterthanthestudentsin thecontrolgroup.Theyalsoshowahighermotivationandparticipationonthepartofthestudents.Thus,theacademicresultshave beensuperiorinthegamifiedgroupthaninthecontrolgroup.

Withtheexceptionofsomeofthecontributions,theacademicresultswerebetterinthegroupsoryearsinwhichgamification wasused.Inaddition,inthesecontributions,itcanbehighlightedthatthemotivationofthestudentsfortheclassactivitieshas beenincreased.However,aspectssuchasabetterstructuredbaseofknowledgearenotworkedon,noristheabilityoflearningto selectandretrievedatafrommultiplesources.Somethingthathasnotbeenworkedonthroughgamificationcouldbeworkedon throughDiscoveryLearningsuchasthinkingskills,criticalanalyze,synthesizeandevaluateinformationreachingacorrectposition onaspecifictopic,atthesametimebeingobjectivewhenanalyzingorextractinganideabasedontheobservation,experience, reflection,reasoningattachedtocommunicate.

Likegamification,WebQuestshavebeenwidelyusedintheacademicworld.Therearealargenumberofworksthathaveused themandstudiedtheirresults,highlightingtheirbenefits.Yang [41] dividedhismathematicsstudentsintotwogroups,acontrol groupwith25studentsandanexperimental groupwith27 students.These52studentswerestudiedfortheentirecourse.The WebQuestsweredevelopedusingthePHPprogramminglanguage.Inordertoknowthelearninglevelofthestudents,attheend ofthetaskstheteachersgaveaquestionnairetothestudents.Theacademicresultsshowbetterresultsinthestudentswhoused the WebQuestsin thelearningprocess.They alsoshow highersatisfaction withthesubject, ITcapability,higher collaborative learning,learningreflection,andlearningfeedback.Chen[7] involved188BusinessManagementdegreestudentsfor16weekswith 3hoursperweek.FivedifferentWebQuestswereconducted,andinthiscasethereisnocontrolgroup.Theresultsshowthatthe use ofWebQuestsimprovesstudents’knowledgeacquisitionanddevelopscriticalthinking.Inaddition,studentsshowincreased motivationforlearning.ZendlerandKlein[43] divided51 studentsintoacontrolandanexperimentalgroup.The25students

intheexperimentalgroupperformedbetteracademicallythanthoseinthecontrolgroup.ThestudentsaccessedtheirWebQuests throughaQRcodeandhadtoansweramultiple-choicetestuponcompletiontofindouttheknowledgelevelofeachofthegroups.

Soepriyantoetal.[37] conductedanexperimentwith65secondyearstudentsoftheEducationTechnologydegree.Thesestudents werenotdividedintotwogroups,oneofthembeingthecontrolgroup.TheWebQuestsdevelopedare7andarehostedontheZunal platform.¹TheobjectivewastoworkonthebasicconceptsoftheComputerNetworksubject.Inaddition,theywantedtodevelop theabilitytocomparethings,organizedata,summarizedata,evaluatedata,synthesizedata,andbecomeabetterproblemsolver.

Theresultsshowgreatresultsfromthestudentshavingbeenevaluatedandseentheimprovementoftheseskills.Finally,Wang[40]

usedWebQueststoteachprogrammingintheuniversity.Thestudentsweredividedintotwogroups,anexperimentalgroupwith50 studentsandacontrolgroupwith59students.Themethodwasusedduringthewholesemester(18weeks,3hoursperweek)and 4WebQuestsweredeveloped,oneforeachtopictobeworkedon.Attheend,aquestionnairewasadministeredtofindoutwhether thestudentsineachgrouphadachievedtheminimumprogrammingknowledgerequired.Theresultsreflectbetteracademicresults amongthestudentswhousedtheWebQuests.However,intheminimumknowledgequestionnaire,therewasnodifferencebetween thetwogroups;bothgroupsacquiredthenecessaryknowledge.

Inthiscase,inthesecontributionstoonDiscoveryLearning,thestudyofacademicresultshasnotprevailed,anditisdifficult tohighlightwhetherthismethodologyimprovesthem.Thesecontributionshavehighlightedthatstudentsshowhighersatisfaction withthesubject,showhighercollaborativelearning,learningreflection,andlearningfeedback.Additionally,theyconcludedthat itimprovesstudents’knowledgeacquisitionanddevelopscriticalthinking,developtheabilitytocomparethings,organizedata, summarizedata,evaluatedata,synthesizedata,andbecomeabetterproblemsolver.However,theyhavenotstudieddeeplyifit increasesthemotivationofthestudents.

Alltheseworks,althoughseparately,havealltriedtoimprovetheacademicresultsofthestudents,theyhavetriedtoimprove theirlearningandmotivation.Thisworkhasthesameobjectives,butinsteadofusingonetechniqueseparately,ittriestocombine themandusetheadvantagesofeachofthem.ResultswillshowifthecombinationofgamificationandDiscoveryLearningenhance academicresults,motivationandcriticalthinking.

3. Casestudy

ThissectionaimstodescribetheemployedgamificationprocessandtheDiscoveryLearninginstructionalmodelindetail,starting fromitsinceptionandcoveringitsdifferentphases,aswellasthemethodologyofeachone.

TheexperiencehasbeendevelopedintheFacultyofEngineeringinthedegreeofComputerScience.41third-yearstudentsofthe SoftwareEngineeringsubjecthavebeenenrolledintheexperience.Thisprocesshasonlybeencarriedoutinonepartofthesubject, thetestingpart,bothstaticanddynamictesting.ThistermisthelongestintheSoftwareEngineeringsubject.

3.1. Inceptionoftheexperience

Inrecentyears,universitieshavebeenimmersedinaprofoundchangeduetodigitalization.Today’sstudents,allofthemdigital natives,demandnewtechnologiesintheeducationalworld.Studentsuseforhourstheircomputers,tabletsorcellphones,while universityclassesstillusetraditionalmethods.Theseclassesareverytediousandboringforstudents,anditiscommonforthemto stoppayingattention.

DuetotheCOVID-19pandemic,allofus,studentsandlecturerswereforcedtostayathomeandadapttoonlineclasses.This circumstancemademorevisibletheneedfornewtechnologiesintheuniversityeducationalworld.Theobligationtoadaptallthe contenttotheonlinemodebroughtwithitagreatincreaseinworkanddedicationonthepartoftheteachingstaff.Onthepart ofthestudents,thetheoreticalclassesbecamemuchmoreboringandstudentspaidlessattention.Italsomeantthattheexercises presentedannuallywerenotunderstoodorcouldnotbeperformedbythestudents,astheydidnothavetheknowledgepreviously taught.

Withthereturntotheclassroomthefollowingyearinahybridmanner(2daysofonlineclassesand3daysofface-to-faceclasses), thetraditionaldeliverymethodwasstillaproblem.Therewasasignificantdifferenceinstudentparticipationbetweenonlineand face-to-faceclasses.Theface-to-faceclassesweremoredynamicandparticipatorythantheonlineclasses,althoughoverall,classroom participationwaslow.Onlineparticipationwasnull.

Takingintoaccountthestudents’needtousetechnologyintheclassroomandtheneedtoincreasetheirmotivation,theideawas togamifythetheoreticalclasses.Forthispurpose,toolssuchasKahoot,QuizzizzorWooclapwerestudied.Thelatterallowsthrough thefreeversionthatallstudentsofthesubjectcanparticipate.ItisalsointegratedwithMoodle,whichfacilitatesitsintegrationwith allthematerialofthecourse,sinceMoodleistheplatformusedasabaseattheuniversity.

Ontheotherhand,studentsarerequiredtoworkingroupsduringthecourseandespeciallywhenthesubjectof testing is taught.Inthesegroupworks,studentshaveproblemsinunderstandingcertainconceptsexplainedinclass.Toavoidthisproblem, gamificationhasbeenintroduced.Inaddition,studentshavedifficultiesinfindingthenecessaryinformationontheWebtohelp themsolvetheproblemsthatariseduringthedevelopmentofthework.Studentstendtowriteemails(iftheworkisbeingdone outsidetheclassroom)ortoaskthelecturerquicklyiftheydonotfindanswersinashorttime.Oncetheyareintroducedtotheworld ofwork,studentslackthishelp.WebQuestsencouragethesearchforinformationontheWeb.Forthisreason,differentWebQuests

1 http://zunal.com.

Fig. 1. Wooclap: (left) questions shown to students and (right) answers shown to the lecturer.

havebeendesignedtocompletetheexercisesrelatedtothesubjectandtohelpstudentsbecomemoreproficientwiththesearchfor information.

TheWebQuestsnotonlyallowtoimprovethesearchontheWeb.Othermainreasonsarethat“aWebQuestisascaffoldedlearning structurethatuseslinkstoessentialresourcesontheWorldWideWebandanauthentictasktomotivatestudents’investigation of acentral, open-endedquestion, developmentof individualexpertise andparticipationina finalgroupprocessthatattempts to transformnewly acquiredinformationinto a more sophisticated understanding. Thebest WebQuests do this in away that inspiresstudentstosee richerthematicrelationships, facilitateacontributiontotherealworldoflearningandreflect ontheir ownmetacognitiveprocesses”[10].

3.2. Descriptionoftheexperience

Inthissubsection,twototallydifferentprocessesthathavebeencarriedoutduringthisexperiencewillbedescribed.Duringthe theoreticalclasses,gamificationhasbeenincludedtotrytomotivatethestudents.Inthesameway,withtheintentionofmotivating thestudents,thepracticalpartsofthesubjecthavebeencarriedoutusingtheDiscoveryLearninginstructionalmodel.Different WebQuestshavebeendevelopedforthisprocess.

3.2.1. Gamification

Gamificationwasusedinthetheoreticalsessionsofthecourse.Twopartscanbedifferentiated:thegamesatthebeginningof classtoremembertheconceptsofthepreviousdayandthegamesduringthetheoreticalsession.

Atthebeginningofthetheoreticalsession,agamewasplayedtoreinforcetheknowledgetaughtthepreviousday.Thesesessions werelessthan10minutesandwereusuallymultiple-choicequestionswith4possibleanswersand1correctanswer.Theobjective wastotesttheknowledgeoftheclassbeforebeingabletocontinuewiththesession.Ifthequestionwasansweredcorrectlybya largemajorityofthestudents,thelecturerdidnotgointomuchdepthtoclarifytheconcept.However,ifthequestionwasanswered incorrectlybythemajority,thelecturertriedtoexplaintheconceptagain.Thereasonscouldbeanincorrectexplanationorthatit isacomplexconcept.Studentswanttogetitrightbecausetheygetpointsforeachcorrectanswer.Attheendofthesessionthey canknowtheirpositionintheclassificationwithrespecttotheclassmates.Theyalwayswanttobeaheadoftheirfriends.Theaim ofthegameisforthestudentstolearnalltheconceptsexplainedintheclassroom,aswellastohavefun.Wooclaphasbeenusedin thispart,whichisadynamictoolthatallowsstudentstoparticipateingamingduringtheclass,throughreal-timeinteractionsthat provideuswithimmediatefeedback.

Duringtheorysessions,studentstendtostoppayingattention.Ifthelectureristalkingformorethananhour,itmakestheclasses boringanddifficulttofollow.Althoughthelecturercanaskquestionstothestudentstotrytoattracttheirattention,itisnotpossible togettheattentionofallstudents.Therefore,thefrequentintroductionofquestionsmakesitdifficultforthestudenttodisconnect.

Iftheyaredynamizedusingthegamificationtechnique,thestudentsfeelmoremotivated.Asatthebeginningoftheclass,correct answersscorepoints.Attheendoftheclass,theonewiththemostpointswins.Fig.1showsanexampleaboutaquestionperformed inclass.Ontheleft,itisshownthescreenthatthestudentsseewiththequestionandthedifferentoptions.Ontheright,thescreen thatthelecturerseeswiththedifferentanswersgivensofarbythestudents.

3.2.2. Discoverylearning

TheDiscoveryLearninginstructionalmodelwasusedforthepracticalsessionsofthecourse.TheWebQuestshaveallowedusto carryoutthisinstructionalmodel.Amongtheobjectivesaretomotivatestudentstofacethechallengespresentedtothemthrough

Table 1

Studentresultsthecourses20/21and21/22.

20/21 21/22

#Students AVG mark #Fails #Students AVG mark #Fails

32 5,22 12 41 6,06 9

theWebQuests.Anotherobjectiveisforstudentstolearnorimprovetheirresearchskills.Students shouldbeabletosearchfor andfindrelevantinformationtohelpthemsolveproblemsthatarise.Theyshouldnotgodirectlytotheteacherwhentheyhave problems,theyshouldlookforasolutionontheirown.Studentsshouldalsogaintheirownexpertiseonthetopicbeingworkedon, aswellaslearntoworkingroups.Forthisreason,theworkdevelopedthroughWebQuestsisalwaysgroupwork.

AlthoughtheprocesssectionoftheWebQuestidentifiesthestepstobefollowed,studentsmustplananddeveloptheirtasksin ordertoachievetheobjectivethatissetforthem.Theyarealwaysprovidedwithmaterialthroughvideos,blogs,books,etc.This materialisnotenough,butitisagreathelptogetthemstartedwiththetasks.Studentsdecidehowfartheywanttogo,asthey areprovidedwitharubricwithwhichtheteacherwillevaluatetheirwork.TheWebQuestdevelopedforstudentswasabouthowto learnanduseKatalon,afreesolutionforWebtestautomation.

4. Results

Thissectionshowsthemainresultsobtainedfromthestudentresultsofthecourses20/21and21/22andthesurveysconducted togathertheopinionofthestudents,followedbyananalysisofeachoftheresearchquestions.ThequestionsinTable2havebeen basedon[5] work,andquestionsinTable3arebasedon[14] work.ForthequestionsinTables4and5,wehavetakenasabasis thework[17].

4.1. Researchmethod

Settings: ThestudywasconductedinMondragonUniversity(Arrasate- Mondragon,Spain).Allparticipantsusedtheirown laptopsduringthecourse,andtheyhadtouseabrowserandKatalontocompletetheirtasks.

Procedure: Ithasbeenexplainedin detailinthesubsection3.2.Finally,attheendof theexperience,theparticipantswere directedtotwodifferentonlineGooglequestionnaires.

Subjects: Forty-onestudentshaveparticipatedintheexperimentandthe83%weremen.37ofthestudentswerefromdifferent citiesandtownsoftheBasqueCountry,2studentswerefromTurkeyand2studentsfromSweden.Alltheparticipantswerecomputer sciencedegreestudents.

Instrument: Two different Google Forms questionnaire were used to collect the user’s experience in the evaluation. The firstquestionnairehasbeenusedtocollectinformationrelatedtoWooclapandgamification(Table2andTable 3).Thesecond questionnairehasbeenusedtocollectthedatarelatedtotheWebQuests(Tables4and5).Theresponseswerecollectedona5-point Likertscale[30].Thereasonfortheuseof5-PointLikertScaleisthat[1] concludeandconsideritthemostappropriatetousewith students.Theresultshavebeenlimitedtopercentages.Throughtheanalysisofthesedata,wehavebeenabletoobtainthetendency ontheopinionofthestudentsineachoneofthequestionsinwhichtheyhavebeenasked.

DataAnalysis: Descriptivestatisticswereusedtocharacterizethesampleandtoevaluatetheparticipants’experience.Moreover, aStudent’sttestwithap-valueof0.05wasaccomplishedtoconfirmstatisticallythedatacollected.Resultsof thisanalysisare showninalltables.Thestatesthattheaverageoftheresponsesishigherthanavalueof3,correspondingtoafavorablelevelof motivation,importanceorrecommendationinthequestionevaluated.

4.2. RQ1:howcanacademicresultsbebetter?

Table1showsthenumberofstudents,theaveragemarkofallstudents,andthenumberofstudentsthatdidnotpasseachyear.

Itisobservablethatduringthe20/21academicyear,thecontrolgrouphad32students.Theyobtainedanaveragegradeof5.22 and12ofthesestudentsdidnotpass.Ontheotherhand,duringthe21/22academicyear,41studentswereenrolledinSoftware Engineering.Theaveragegradewas6.06andthenumberoffailureswas9.

Ontheonehand,thesedatashowanimprovementof0.84intheaveragegradeamongstudentsafterapplyinggamificationand DiscoveryLearning.Thisresultconfirmsthatbothallowimprovingacademicresultsamongstudents.Ontheotherhand,wehave thenumberoffailures.Inthecontrolgroup,12studentsfailedoutof32(37.5%)whileintheothergroup,9studentsfailedoutof 41(21.95%).Thisdatashowsthatthenumberoffailureswasreducedby15.55%,apercentagethatreconfirmsthatgamification andDiscoveryLearningenhanceacademicresultsamongstudents.

TheresultsconfirmthattheuseofgamificationandDiscoveryLearningimproveacademicresultsbecausetheaveragegrade hasincreasedandthenumberoffailuresdecreases.

Table 2

ResultsoftheWooclapSurvey(Stronglydisagree,SD;Disagree,D;Neitheragreenordisagree,N;Agree,A;Stronglyagree,SA).

Questionnaire Frequencies Descriptive stats. p-value

SD D N A SA Median Mode

Q1: I find Wooclap exciting, interesting and motivating. 0 0 5 19 17 A A 0.000 Q2: I find Wooclap reveal the real students’ competence. 2 10 11 15 3 N A 0.001

Q3: I look forward to playing Wooclap. 0 0 6 28 7 A A 0.000

Q4: I feel positive when playing Wooclap. 0 1 5 26 9 A A 0.000

Q5:Ilikethecollaboration&competitivenessinWooclap sessions.

0 1 5 16 19 A SA 0.001

Q6: Wooclap final leaderboard satisfies you. 1 5 12 12 11 A A 0.086

Q7: I am eager to learn via Wooclap. 0 3 12 18 8 A A 0.011

Q8: Wooclap feedback for questions is engaging. 1 4 9 23 4 A A 0.005

Q9:Wooclapmakesmestudymoretoobtainabetter markinthegame.

2 10 16 8 5 N N 0.074

Table 3

ResultsoftheGamificationSurvey(Stronglydisagree,SD;Disagree,D;Neitheragreenordisagree,N;Agree,A;Stronglyagree,SA).

Questionnaire Frequencies Descriptive stats. p-value

SD D N A SA Median Mode

Q1:Thegamesmadethelearningenvironmentafunandengaging one.

0 0 5 24 12 A A 0.003

Q2: The games motivated me to attend classes. 1 2 11 18 9 A A 0.001

Q3:Iwasmoremotivatedtostudythecoursematerialeveryweek inordertodowellintheleaderboardforthegames.

1 8 16 11 5 N N 0.004

Q4: The total duration of the games was satisfactory. 0 1 8 20 12 A A 0.013

Q5:Thediscussionsaboutthecorrectandincorrectanswersafter everyquestionweresatisfying.

1 2 8 18 12 A A 0.000

Q6:Ibelievethatthegameshaveimprovedmyunderstandingof thecoveredtopics.

0 1 6 26 8 A A 0.000

Q7: Performing well in the games increased my self-confidence. 0 2 13 17 9 A A 0.001 Q8:Iwouldhavepreparedandengagedbetterifthegameresults

weretranslatedtoactualmarksforthemoduleassessment.

1 4 14 12 10 A N 0.009

Q9:Ibelievethatthegameshaveimprovedmyanalyticaland problem-solvingskills.

1 7 14 16 3 N A 0.015

Q10: I wish gamification was used in other modules. 0 0 11 14 16 A SA 0.001

Q11: I believe that gaming is a valuable use of instructional time. 0 0 2 19 20 A SA 0.004 Q12: I do not found the use of the gamification intimidating. 0 3 7 14 17 A SA 0.051

4.3. RQ2:whyarethestudentsmotivatedtoplaywithWooclapandwithgamification?

Table2andTable3showtheresultstothisresearchquestion.Figs.2and3showtheresultsofthequestionnairesvisually.In Table2,questions1to6showthestudents’opiniononwhetherWooclapmotivatesthem.RegardingTable3,questions1,2,4,7 andquestions10to12answerwhethergamificationmotivatesthem.

Wooclaphasbeentheplatformusedinclasssothatstudentscouldbemoremotivatedandattentiveduringthetheoreticalclasses.

Theseclassesarealwaysmoretediousforstudents,andtheytendtostopattending.Table2showsthatstudentsfindWooclapexciting, interestingandmotivating(Q1)as36ofthem(87.8%)saidtheyagreedorstronglyagreedwiththisstatement.Thevastmajority ofstudents(35,85.36%)arelookingforwardtoplayingWooclapagain(Q3)andfeelpositivewhiletheyareplayingWooclap(Q4) (agreeorstronglyagree).ThesameistrueforQ5,35ofthestudentsagreeorstronglyagreethattheylikethecompetitivenessthat occursintheWooclapsessions.However,only18students(43.9%)agreeorstronglyagreethatWooclaprevealstherealstudents’

competence(Q2).Theyarealsonotverysatisfiedwiththefinalleaderboard,asonly23students(56.1%)agreeorstronglyagreewith thisquestion(Q6).Nonetheless,thisistheonlyquestioninwhichthep-valueisgreaterthan0.05andthereforetheonlyquestionin whichtheresultisnotsignificant.Thismeansthatinreality,studentsdonotconsiderthefinalleaderboardsatisfactory.

Inrelationtogamification(Table3),studentsbelievethatthegamesmakethelearningenvironmentfunandengaging(Q1,36 agreeorstronglyagree,87.8%).Thismakesstudentsfeelmotivatedtoattendinclass(Q2,27agreeorstronglyagree,65.85%).

Forthestudents,thelengthofthegamewasadequate(Q4,32agreeorstronglyagree,78.05%).Formostofthem,answeringthe questionswellmakesthemincreasetheirownconfidence(Q7,26studentsagreeorstronglyagree,63.41%).Inthelastblockof questions(Q10,Q11,Q12),studentsagreeorstronglyagreethatgamificationisusedinothersubjects(30students,73.17%),that gamingisavaluableuseofinstructionaltime(39students,95.12%)andthatgamificationisnotintimidating(31students,75.61%).

Forthese4questions,thep-valueisbelow0.05,whichshowsthattheresultsarestatisticallysignificant.

Resultsobtainedbythep-valueshowthattheresultsobtainedaresignificantandvalidatetheideathatgamificationmotivates students.

Fig. 2. Results of the Wooclap Survey (Strongly disagree, SD; Disagree, D; Neither agree nor disagree, N; Agree, A; Strongly agree, SA).

Fig. 3. Results of the Gamification Survey (Strongly disagree, SD; Disagree, D; Neither agree nor disagree, N; Agree, A; Strongly agree, SA).

Itcanbeconcludedthatstudentsaremoremotivatedinclassbecausetheyhavefun,theyfeelpositive,andthismakesthem paymoreattentioninclass.Theywantthispracticetobeusedinothersubjectsaswell.

4.4. RQ3:whydoesWooclapandgamificationmakestudentsstudy/learnmore?

Table2andTable3showtheresultstothisresearchquestion.Figs.2and3showtheresultsofthequestionnairesvisually.In Table2,questions7to9showwhetherstudentsstudyorlearnmorethankstoWooclap.RegardingTable3,questions3,5,6,8and 9answerwhethergamificationmakesstudentsstudyorlearnmore.

Questions7and8ofTable2refertowhetherWooclapmakesstudentslearnmore.26studentsagreeorstronglyagreewith learningthroughWooclap(Q7,63.14%)and27studentsbelievethatthelecturer’sfeedbacktoeachquestionengagesthem(Q8, 65.85%).Q9inTable2referstowhetherstudentsstudymorethankstoWooclaptogetbetterscores.Only13students(31.7%)agree orstronglyagreewiththisstatement.Thep-valueisgreaterthan0.05forthislastquestion,whichmeansthatitisnotstatistically significant.

Questions3and8ofTable3refertowhethergamificationmakesstudentsstudymore.Only16students(39.02%)agreeor stronglyagreethatgamificationmakesthemstudymoreathometogetbetterresultsinthenextgame(Q3).Q8answerswhether studentswouldstudymoreiftheresultsofthegameweretransferredtothefinalgradeofthecourse.Only22studentsagreewiththis statement(53.66%).Ontheotherhand,questions5,6and9ofTable3refertowhetherstudentslearnmorethankstogamification.

Table 4

Resultsofthelevelofparticipants’agreementaboutthestepsofWebQuestprojectsSurvey(Stronglydisagree,SD;Disagree,D;Neitheragree nordisagree,N;Agree,A;Stronglyagree,SA).(Introduction,I;Task,T;Process,P;InformationSources,IS;Evaluation,E;Conclusion,C).

Questionnaire Frequencies Descriptive stats. p-value

SD D N A SA Median Mode

I Q1: Introduction presents goal of project. 0 2 8 26 5 A A 0.003

Q2: Topic of project is appealing. 2 3 7 21 8 A A 0.000

Q3:Introductiongivesenoughconcreteinformationaboutthe project.

0 5 11 17 8 A A 0.006

Q4:Project’sscopeisconsistentwithlearningoutcomesofthe course.

0 4 6 24 7 A A 0.000

T Q5:Inthetasksection,projectexpectationsareclearly explained.

1 2 8 22 8 A A 0.001

Q6:Projectrequiresinterpretingknowledgeinvariousforms. 0 5 6 24 6 A A 0.000 Q7:Developingacreativeproductisexpectedforcompleting

theproject.

0 4 5 25 7 A A 0.014

Q8:Therolesandtaskswithintheprojectnecessitatedifferent pointsofview.

2 3 10 17 9 A A 0.002

P Q9:Stagesoftheprocessareorganizedsothattheycanbe accomplishedduringtheallocatedtimeperiod.

0 3 9 23 6 A A 0.004

Q10:Eachstageisexplainedinaclearanddefinitemanner. 1 4 10 19 7 A A 0.021 Q11:Studentscanrequesthelpfromtheinstructorswhenthey

faceaproblemduringtheprocess.

0 1 13 20 7 A A 0.022

Q12:Stagesoftheprocessareorganizedaccordingtovarious levelsofBlooms’taxonomy.

0 4 10 17 10 A A 0.003

IS Q13: Enough information is provided to complete the project. 0 4 10 14 13 A A 0.001 Q14:Webaddressesaregivenwithextrainformationthat

definedsite.

0 6 10 16 9 A A 0.005

Q15: Information sources are consistent with project topic. 1 4 9 15 12 A A 0.068 Q16: Information sources are appropriate for target students. 0 3 7 21 10 A A 0.004

E Q17: Grading of each task was clearly defined. 3 1 8 17 12 A A 0.091

Q18: Grading was consistent with difficulty level of each task. 1 5 8 19 8 A A 0.002 Q19:Studentshavethechancetogetfeedbackand

performancereports.

2 2 7 17 13 A A 0.019

Q20:Evaluationcriteriaareconsistentwithcourseobjectives intermsofinformationandskills.

0 5 6 21 9 A A 0.003

C Q21:Conclusionsummarizesstudents’experiencesduringthe process.

1 2 11 14 13 A A 0.009

Q22:Messagesinconclusionaimtopreparestudentsfor real-lifesituations.

2 5 7 19 8 A A 0.018

Q23:Messagesinconclusiongiveclearexplanationsto studentsabouthowtheyareexpectedtosucceedwhenthey finishedtheproject.

2 4 10 16 9 A A 0.021

Despitethefactthatonly19studentsagreeorstronglyagreethatgamificationimprovedtheiranalyticalandproblem-solvingskills (Q9,46.34%),studentsconfirmthattheylearnthankstogamification.InQ5,30students(73.17%)agreeorstronglyagreethatthe feedbackoneachquestionhelpsthemtolearn.InQ6,36students(87.8%)confirmbyagreeingorstronglyagreeingthatthegames increasetheirunderstandingofthetopicscovered.Inthiscase,allquestionsobtainstatisticallysignificantresults.QuestionQ12is theonlyonethatobtainsaresultthatisnotstatisticallysignificant,butisnotpartofthequestionsthatrespondtothisresearch question.

Resultsobtainedbythep-valueshowthattheresults obtainedaresignificantandvalidatetheideathatgamification makes studentslearnmore.

Despitethe factthatstudentsdo not studymore athome totrytoget better results inthe games, theyconfirm that gamificationhelpsthemtolearn.Thefeedbackprovidedbythelecturertoeachquestionalsohelpsthemtolearnthe conceptsbetter.

4.5. RQ4:whatisthelevelofparticipants’agreementaboutthestepsofWebQuestprojectintermsofintroduction,task,process,resources, evaluation,andconclusion?

Table4andFig.4showtheresultsofthesurveyabouttheWebquest’sdifferentsections.Inthissurvey,studentsshowtheir opinionregardingthestructureoftheWebQuests,theiropinionabouttheintroduction,task,process,informationsources,evaluation andconclusions.

Fig. 4. Resultsofthelevelofparticipants’agreementaboutthestepsofWebQuestprojectsSurvey(Stronglydisagree,SD;Disagree,D;Neitheragreenordisagree,N;

Agree,A;Stronglyagree,SA).

TheintroductionoftheWebQuestsiswellratedbythestudents.Theworstratedpointisthatstudentsthinkthattheintroduction isappealing.Thisisapointtoimprove,but29students(70.73%)agreeorstronglyagreethattheintroductionstotheWebQuests aresufficientlyattractive.Studentsagreeorstronglyagreethattheintroductionshowstheobjectivesoftheproject(31students, 75.6%),theintroductiongivesenoughinformationabouttheproject(26students,63.41%)andthatthescopeisconsistentwith learningoutcomesofthecourse(31students,75.6%).

Regardingthetasks,theworstratedisquestion8abouttherolesandtaskswithintheprojectnecessitatedifferentpointsofview.

However,26students(63.41%)agreeorstronglyagreewiththisstatement.Forquestions5and6,30students(73.17%)agreeor stronglyagreethatthetasksprojectexpectationsareclearlyexplainedandprojectrequiresinterpretingknowledgeinvariousforms.

Forquestion7,32students(78.05%)agreeorstronglyagreethatacreativeproductisexpectedforcompletingtheproject.

TheWebQuestprocesseshavebeenverywellrated,anditisnotpossibletohighlightthatoneofthefourquestionshasbeenrated worsethantheothers.Inquestion9,29students(70.73%)agreeorstronglyagreethatstagesoftheprocessareorganizedsothat theycanbeaccomplishedduringtheallocatedtimeperiod.Inquestion10,26students(63.41%)agreeorstronglyagreethateach stageisexplainedinaclearanddefinitemanner.Finally,inquestions11and12,27students(65.85%)agreeorstronglyagreethat studentscanrequesthelpfromtheinstructorswhentheyfaceaproblemduringtheprocessandstagesoftheprocessareorganized accordingtovariouslevelsofBlooms’taxonomy.

Regardingthesourcesofinformation,question16wasthebestratedbythestudents.Inthisquestion,31students(75.6%)agree orstronglyagreethatthesourcesofinformationareadequateforthestudents.Inallotherquestionsofthissection27students (65.85%)agreeorstronglyagreethatenoughinformationisprovidedtocompletetheproject,webaddressesaregivenwithextra informationthatdefinedsiteandinformationsourcesareconsistentwithprojecttopic.Question15istheonlyoneofthiscategory inwhichtheresultsshowthattheresultsarenotstatisticallysignificant.

Theevaluationhasalsobeenwell valuedbythestudents.Tohighlightquestion20inwhich 30students(73.17%)agreeor stronglyagreethattheevaluationcriteriaareconsistentwithcourse objectivesin termsof informationandskills.Likewise,30 studentsagreewithstatement19thatstudentshavethechancetogetfeedbackandperformancereports.27students(65.85%)agree orstronglyagreewithstatement18thatgradingwasconsistentwithdifficultylevelofeachtask.Finally,29students(70.73%) agreeorstronglyagreethatthegradingofeachtaskwasclearlydefined.However,thisistheonlyquestionwhoseresultsarenot statisticallysignificantbasedontheresultsobtainedbythep-value.

Finally,withrespect totheconclusions,in allofthem, 27students(65.85%)agreeorstronglyagreewiththesestatements:

conclusion summarizes students’ experiencesduring the process, messages in conclusion aim toprepare students for real-life situationsandmessagesinconclusiongiveclearexplanationstostudentsabouthowtheyareexpectedtosucceedwhentheyfinished theproject.

Resultsobtainedbythep-valueshowthattheresultsobtainedaresignificantandvalidatethegoodstructuringoftheWebQuests.

Table 5

ResultsoftheperceptionsofparticipantsaboutWebQuestsSurvey(Stronglydisagree,SD;Disagree,D;Neitheragreenordisagree, N;Agree,A;Stronglyagree,SA).

Questionnaire Frequencies Descriptive stats. p-value

SD D N A SA Median Mode

Q1: This project oriented me to research. 1 5 9 19 7 A A 0.029

Q2:Ididnothaveproblemsduetotimelimitationswhile completingtheproject.

0 5 8 16 12 A A 0.002

Q3: I think I am suitable for group work. 0 1 3 15 22 A SA 0.002

Q4:Ididnotneedanyhelpfromtheinstructorduringthe project.

2 4 6 17 12 A A 0.025

Q5:IvaluedthecontributionofmembersoftheWebQuest project.

1 5 11 13 11 A A 0.034

Q6: I shared information with other participants. 2 3 8 15 13 A A 0.139

Q7:Ishowedrespectforotherparticipants’opinionsduring theproject.

0 2 5 16 18 A SA 0.022

Q8: I generated creative ideas during the project 0 5 9 16 11 A A 0.027

Q9: I helped other participants find their mistakes. 1 3 13 15 9 A A 0.022

Q10: I completed the WebQuest project easily. 0 0 6 24 11 A A 0.004

Q11:TheWebQuestprojectencouragedmetocollaborate withotherparticipants.

1 6 6 17 11 A A 0.023

Q12: The WebQuest project made me use my imagination. 2 3 11 17 8 A A 0.047 Q13:WebQuestincreasedmyskillsinapplyingrecently

learnedconceptstomyprofession.

1 3 9 22 6 A A 0.046

Q14:ContributingtoWebQuestincreasedmymotivationin thecourse.

1 6 11 18 5 N A 0.011

Q15:WebQuestsupportedmyunderstandingof course-relatedtopics.

0 1 12 16 12 A A 0.001

Q16:WebQuestwaseffectiveforreachingthegoalsofthe course.

0 1 11 20 9 A A 0.000

Q17: I liked having web support for this course project. 0 6 7 16 12 A A 0.003

StudentsvaluepositivelythedifferentsectionsoftheWebQuestsprovidedinclasstocarryouttheirlearningtasks.Forall questions,moststudentsagreewithallofthem.

4.6. RQ5:whataretheperceptionsofparticipantstowardsworkingwithWebQuestprojectsintermsofplanningskills,problemsfaced, implementation,real-lifeexperience,popularandunpopularfeatures,suggestions,andintegrationideas?

Toanswerthisresearchquestion,17questionswereaskedtothestudents.MostofthestudentsthinkthattheWebQuestsguide themtowardsresearch(Q1,63.41%).AccordingtotheanswerstoQ2,thestudentshadnoproblemscompletingtheirassignments becauseofthetimeconstraint(68.29%).Thevastmajorityofstudentsbelievethattheyaresuitableforgroupwork(Q3,90.24%).

70.73%ofthestudents,stateinQ4thattheydidnotneedanyhelpfromthelecturertocompletetheirtask.Itistruethatstudents askedfewquestions.TheywereabletofindthenecessaryinformationontheWebtocompletetheirassignments.Studentsagreeor stronglyagreeinQ5thattheyvaluethecontributionoftheWebQuestprojectmembersby58.54%.68.29%(28students)agreeor stronglyagreewithhavinghelpedotherparticipantswiththeirassignments(Q6).However,thep-valueresultsshowthattheresults arenotsignificantandtherefore,thestudentsdidnotshareinformationwiththerestofthestudents.InQ7,34students(82.93%) defendthattheyrespectedtheopinionsoftheotherstudents.Mostagreethattheygeneratedcreativeideasduringtheproject(Q8, 27students,65.85%)and26students(63.41%)agreethattheyhelpedotherparticipantstofindtheirmistakes(Q9).

MoststudentshavecompletedtheWebQuestprojecteasily(Q10,35students,85.36%).28students(68.29%)agreeorstrongly agree that theWebQuests encouraged them tocollaborate with other students (Q11).25 students (60.97%) believe that the WebQuestshelpedthemusetheirimaginationtocompletethetasks(Q12).Similarly,28students(68.29%)agreeorstronglyagree thattheWebQuestsincreasedtheirabilitiestocompleteassignmentswithnewlylearnedconcepts(Q13).Basedontheresponses inQ14,23students(56.1%)believethattheWebQuestscontributetoincreasetheirmotivationaboutthecourse.WebQuestshave helped28 students(68.29%) tosupporttheir understandingof topicsrelatedtothecourse (Q15).29 students(70.73%) agree orstronglyagreethatWebQuestsareeffectiveinachievingthecourseobjectives(Q16).Finally,Q17concludesthat28 students (68.29%)agreeorstronglyagreewithhavingWebsupporttocompletethecourseprojects.

Summarizing,thecontentsofTable5,studentsagreewithallthequestionsposedtothemexceptforQ14whosemeanvalueis neutral.Themodeforallquestionsisalsothatstudentsagree,exceptforQ3andQ7,inwhichtheystronglyagree.Fig.5alsoshows thatforallthequestions,morethanhalfofthestudentsagreeorstronglyagree.

Resultsobtainedbythep-valueshow thattheresultsobtainedaresignificantandvalidatethatWebQuestsenhanceplanning skills,problemsfaced,implementation,real-lifeexperience,popularandunpopularfeatures,suggestions,andintegrationideas.

Fig. 5. ResultsoftheperceptionsofparticipantsaboutWebQuestsSurvey(Stronglydisagree,SD;Disagree,D;Neitheragreenordisagree,N;Agree,A;Stronglyagree, SA).

StudentsconcludethattheWebQuestshavehelpedthemorientthemtoresearch,usetheirimagination,generatecreative ideas,increasetheirabilitytoputwhattheyhavelearnedintopractice,andevenincreasetheirmotivationaboutthecourse.

Theyhavealsoimprovedtheirabilitytoworkingroups,respectingtheopinionsofothersandhelpingclassmatesfromother groupstocompletetheirhomework.Likewise,ithasmeantthattheydonotneedmuchhelpfromthelecturertocomplete theirhomework.Finally,theWebQuestshavehelpedthemtobetterunderstandwhattheyhavelearnedduringthecourse.

4.7. Studylimitations

Thefirstofthelimitationsaffectsthenumberofstudents.Itisconsideredthat41studentsareanimportantandrepresentative numberwithoutnonetheless,37ofthembelongtothesamegroup,BasqueCountrycitizens.Theremaining4studentsarenota representativenumbertodrawconclusionsbetweenstudentsfromtheBasqueCountryandstudentsfromothercountries.Thestudy shouldbereplicatedinuniversitiesindifferentcountriesandcheckifthesameresultsareobtained.

AnotherlimitationfocusesontheuseofWooclapforgamification.WeconsideredthatWooclapwasasuitabletooltogamify teachingsessions.However,wecannotknowwhetherwewouldhaveobtainedbetterorworseresultsusingothertoolssuchas Kahoot,GimkitorGenially.ItwouldbeappropriatetorepeattheexperimentusingoneofthesetoolsinsteadofWooclapandseeif theresultsaresimilar.Similarly,insteadofusingWebQueststopromoteDiscoveryLearninginstudents,othermechanismscouldbe usedandcheckiftheresultsaresimilar.

5. Conclusionsandfuturework

This paperpresents theresults of applyinggamification andtheDiscovery Learningpedagogical approachin thesubject of SoftwareEngineeringinthethirdyearoftheComputerSciencedegree.41studentswereinvolvedduringthe2021/2022academic year. Theexperiencewas motivatedby(i)thechange onthepartofthestudentsin terms ofinformationconsumption,(ii)to improvethestudents’attentioninthetheoreticalpartofthesubjectand(iii)tomotivate,improvethestudents’informationsearch andresearchskillstosolvetheirproblems.

Theexperiencehasbeenevaluatedwith2differentsurveys:oneongamificationandtheotheronWebQuests.Thesurveyon gamificationcanbedividedintotwodifferentparts:oneonthetoolusedforgamification(Wooclap)andtheotherontheconceptof gamificationitself.Similarly,thesurveyonWebQuestscanbedividedintotwoparts:thestudents’opiniononthedifferentsections oftheWebQuestsandtheirperceptionoftheusefulnessandimprovementsprovidedbytheWebQuests.Inaddition,theacademic resultshavebeencomparedwithacontrolgroupinthe2020/2021academicyearandtheresultsobtainedbyapplyinggamification andDiscoveryLearninginthe2021/2022academicyear.

TheresultsobtainedcombinationgamificationandDiscoveryLearningshowthatthemarksobtainedthislastacademicyearhave improvedby0.84pointscomparedtothepreviousone.Withalmostathirdmorestudentsinthe2021/2022academicyear,the numberoffailureswasreduced.Theresultsshowthatthenumberoffailureswasreducedby15.55%.Theresultsalsoshowthat studentsaremoremotivatedinclass,theyhavefun,theyfeelpositiveandthismakesthempaymoreattentioninclass.Resultsalso showthatWooclapandgamificationhelpstudentstolearn.Thefeedbackprovidedbythelecturertoeachquestionalsohelpsthem