Games in the classroom as a learning method

Albert Rose

The search for new active methodologies in the field of teaching and university education is becoming more and more frequent. New methods that manage to make academic lessons more attractive and encourage the participation of all students. The Rey Juan Carlos University celebrates on October 28 in the cafeteria of the Móstoles Campus the seminar 'At the University we also play', a face-to-face meeting between teachers with game-based learning as the main axis.

The event aims to be a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences among all the participants. “The goal is for the 40 of us enrolled in the seminar to leave with 40 different ideas,” says Oriol Borrás, professor at the URJC and organizer of the event together with Almudena Macías, Raquel Montes, Lucía Serrano and Antonio Julio López.

“When we proposed the seminar we wanted to get away from the traditional structured congress in which the tables end up being presentations. We want it to be a forum for participation in which all those registered share their experiences”, explains Borrás. In just three minutes, each of the participants will have to present some previous experience or idea related to the use of games as a learning methodology in university teaching. Afterwards, there will be a round table in which the questions posed to the participants will be answered.

The use of gamification as a new teaching methodology helps to make subjects more attractive to students. “Our students in general like to play and are very involved in fields such as video games. Including them in the classes generates more participation, interest and motivation, in addition to creating new narrative forms for the subjects”, explains Borrás.

A relaxed atmosphere full of surprises

The seminar will take place in the cafeteria of the Móstoles Campus of the URJC, which provides a more informal touch to the event, always respecting health recommendations: “The atmosphere will be more relaxed and relaxed, in addition, the entire seminar will be encompassed in surprises and contests ”, assures the teacher.

The seminar 'At the University we also play' is sponsored by the URJC, the Higher Technical School of Computer Engineering, the publishing house Esic and Artiach. Registration (40 places) is open through the following link. More information and programming here.