Strengthening variational thinking through gamification and objectification theory

Abstract

This article presents the results of a qualitative research, developed with eighth grade high school students (13 to 16 years old), which sought to strengthen the variational thinking of students through a didactic strategy based on gamification as a motivational element and adapting the activities to be developed according to the theory of objectification proposed by Luis Radford. The development included three stages: the diagnosis, from which the initial level of variational thinking in students was identified; the implementation of the didactic strategy, which integrated the topics to be developed in the first period as established in the institutional area plan; and the closing test, applied in order to assess the impact of the didactic strategy. The analysis of the results through the categories of analysis reflects that both the motivational factor and the development of variational thinking were favorably affected after the implementation of the didactic strategy.