ACTIVE LEARNING AND BOARD GAMES TO TEACH ENGINEERS

This document shows how active learning can be transformed in a practical teaching experience of continuous improvement, through a fun activity. This activity is dedicated to encouraging and motivating the student, contributing to gaining new knowledge and improving the interaction between peers, all elements which are necessary to obtain better academic results. The experience was applied to students taking the Accounting subject, in the Civil Engineering in Computer Science program at the University of Atacama, in Chile. The educational and fun tool incorporated into the course was a board game. The field analysis, dedicated to directly observing and recording all kinds of behavior presented by the students, was maintained throughout the period of time that the subject lasted. The results obtained were compared with a second group of students, used as a control group, who also took the Accounting subject at the University of Atacama, but, from the Industrial Civil Engineering programme and with the traditional methodology of teaching. The conclusions and final results showed that by using a non-traditional methodology, the average students' grades increase.