Games as a strategy to reinforce cognitive skills in students of the school of engineering with academic failure

Abstract

Academic failure in students of the School of Engineering usually is the result of a number of factors such as lack of interest in information, inappropriate study skills, non-attendance to midterm evaluations, and failure to submit academic papers. To identify the purpose, the authors implemented a gamebased strategy to further develop cognitive skills and improve academic performance. Games served as an excuse to contribute to the formative and personal process in engineering courses. This was a descriptive, qualitative research. The collection of data was carried out in on-line and on-site training sessions. The authors interviewed 15 low-achievers who failed academic subjects during the 2016-2 and 2017-1 terms. Then, they performed a descriptive analysis of the training sessions and interviews. They concluded that 12
out of the 15 participants in the training sessions performed higher and improved their cognitive skills.