Gamification experience in the subject of descriptive geometry for architecture

Abstract

The hasty changes in the curricula that have occurred in recent years in the School of Architecture of XXX have generated some problems in the subject of Descriptive Geometry that have been added to others that had been ongoing for many years. A Teaching Innovation Project (TIP) seeks to provide a solution to the problems raised with new methods of teaching inside and outside the classroom and greater interaction between the students and the professor. This way, geometry is no longer something abstract, unrelated to the professional practice of the architect. Thereby, it is intended to structure a new subject that provides students not only with graphic and spatial techniques but also with teamwork, cooperation, training, sufficiency and autonomy resources that help them in the development of their future career. In order to carry out this new methodology for teaching, a course based on gamification has been designed, which allows the students to focus on the subject from a more playful point of view with the aim of motivating and involving them. Based on a three-year experience of comparative work between the traditional and the proposed systems, the conclusions obtained with regards to the withdrawal rate, academic performance and perception of the teaching method are presented in this paper. The incorporation of techniques based on games had a motivating effect on the students, who discovered a way of learning by playing what they previously perceived as a tedious subject.