Free games, strategy to improve language learning in basic secondary education

Abstract

This article presents the research results on free games, an educational intervention used as a stra-tegy to improve language learning; in which students’ perception of evaluation was researched, evaluation strategies were designed and implemented, and the impact of free-game evaluation in basic secondary was analyzed at a public high school institution in the municipality of Pacho, Cundinamarca, Colombia. From the qualitative paradigm, and with participatory action research methodology, in which the experience of evaluation was initially explored in the institution, an evaluative model was proposed based on free games, where students participated in their design, to !nally evaluate this process. The proposal that raised the importance of the use of free games sought that, from the !rst moment the class was started, the game would be on and the evalua-tion criteria would be de!ned, which would be done through thematic development, reinforcement workshops, and the preparation and implementation of the evaluation. Data was collected from the academic results of the years 2017 and 2018, semi-structured interviews, checklists, and participating observation. Results show that free games became an effective strategy to improve learning, a fact that proved momentous for the appropriation of knowledge in a fun, active, and relevant way