The limits of gamification in architecture teaching. The Escape Room technique

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_zarch/zarch.2019123549

Keywords:

Education gamification, Informal Cooperative Learning, Design of Teaching games

Abstract

Currently, a great part of the university community agrees with the statement that “Learning is not a game, but you learn by playing”. It is undeniable that current generations of university students have grown up surrounded by the gamification applied to activities of the more disparate and, as a consequence, have developed the predisposition to the game, since it provides pleasure and happiness, as well as the skills necessary to participate in it, competitiveness, decisive attitude, team spirit and many more. With this perspective in mind and with the aim of highlighting the most important concepts that have been taught during the course, the team of professors of the subject “Basis for Technique” of the first course in the Barcelona School of Arquitecture (Polytechnic University of Catalonia), we have developed a game based in the Escape Room technique. This article describes the methodology of the tests carried out for more than 500 students during 3 courses, analyzes the results regarding the fulfillment of the proposed didactics objectives and proposes a reflection on the limits of the gamification applied to the teaching of architecture.

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Author Biographies

  • Belén Onecha Pérez, Polytechnic University of Catalonia

    Belén Onecha Pérez (Alicante, 1974). Architect by the ETSAB (UPC) 2000 obtaining the PhD in Architectural Rehabilitation and Restoration in 2012. Serra Hunter Fellow Professor of the Department of Architecture Technology at the ETSAB (UPC). She has taught about building processes and Heritage Restoration in subjects of the Architecture Degree, of the Master on Architecture Advanced Studies, both at the ETSAB, as well as in the Architectural Restoration Master of the UPC Foundation, the Rehabilitation Master of CAATEEB and the Global Management Building Master of La Salle-Ramon Llull University. Her professional practice focuses on the Restoration of Heritage buildings, as well as the Energy Efficiency of Historical Buildings, subjects on which he has published several articles. In the field of architecture learning, she has participated and published in the V Conference on Teaching Innovation in Architecture, JIDA'17. belen.onecha@upc.edu

  • Javier Sanz Prat, Polytechnic University of Catalonia

    Javier Sanz Prat (Zaragoza, 1979). Architect by ETSAB (UPC) 2003. Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture Technology at the ETSAB (UPC) since February 2007. He has taught building construction and architecture rehabilitation for degree subjects, both first and last year of studies, but also at the Master on Architecture Advanced Studies at ETSAB and the Architectural Restoration Master of the UPC Foundation, the Postgraduate on New Technologies at EPSEB or the Rehabilitation Master of CAATEEB. He has published on cooperative learning in technical subjects in the V Conference on Teaching Innovation in Architecture, JIDA 2017. He has participated in the structural study of heritage buildings by calculating arches, vaults and domes using Graphical Analysis. His professional activity is carried out in the field of rehabilitation and restoration of roofs and in the use of Cross Laminated Timber in slab rehabilitation. javier.sanz‐prat@upc.edu

  • Daniel López Valdés, Polytechnic University of Catalonia

    Daniel López Valdés (Barcelona, 1978). Architect by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) 2004. Until 2009, collaborator in several architecture projects, realization of unique real estate valuations, as well as researcher within the Bar_Code Housing System project, on industrialization methods in housing of the National Plan R + D + i. Since then and up to the present, he has been working as an architect in the Technical Services of the Municipal Housing and Rehabilitation Institute of Barcelona, ​​agency for public housing development of Barcelona City Council. Since 2008 he is an associate professor, in the Department of Architecture Technology of the School of Architecture of Barcelona (ETSAB), ​​of the UPC, developing his teaching activity in the field of building construction both the first year of the degree in Architecture and TFG workshop. In the field of Architecture Learning he has participated and published in the V Conference on Teaching Innovation in Architecture, JIDA'17. daniel.lopez‐valdes@upc.edu

References

Definición ABC, tu diccionario hecho fácil. “Definición de Escape Room”. https://www.definicionabc.com/social/escape-room.php (consultada el 6 de diciembre de 2018).

Dicheva, Darina; Dichev, Christo; Agre, Gennady; Angelova, Galia. 2015. Gamification in education: a systematic mapping study. Educational Technology & Society 18 (3): 75-88.

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Hamari, Juho; Koivisto, Jonna; Sarsa, Harri. 2014. Does gamification work?- a literature review of empirical studies on gamification. Conferencia presentada en la 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Science, IEEE, 6 a 9 enero, 2014.

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Zarch12-Aprendizaje

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Published

2019-05-13

Issue

No. 12 (2019): The Learning of Architecture

Section

Topic papers

How to Cite

Onecha Pérez, B., Sanz Prat, J., & López Valdés, D. (2019). The limits of gamification in architecture teaching. The Escape Room technique. ZARCH. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Architecture and Urbanism, 12, 122-133. https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_zarch/zarch.2019123549