Biomolecules Scavenger Hunt: Gamification and 3D Printing as a Biochemistry Learning Strategy

Gamification is a process of adding game elements to change the learning method and improve the results. This educational innovation activity has the main objective of impacting Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering students' comprehension about biomolecules for the Fundamentals of structure and properties of biomolecules subject in the third semester of their careers by immerse them in a gamification-type activity where they carried out different biomolecule identification activities through 3D printed structures that they previously reviewed theoretically in class. This activity was conducted in the winter semester of 2021 and 2022, where 139 students were divided into the experimental and the control groups. The rally development consisted in four stages as it follows: the challenges design for each rally station where the selected ones were to put together the atoms sequence to form an amino acid, to identify the components of a cell membrane, to represent the movement of the ions in the sodium potassium pump, and to find a biomolecule in the campus with provided clues. Once the challenges were chosen, the material was made by 3D printing and then the competition rally took place and the winning team with the shortest finishing time was named in a ceremony. To evaluate the students' knowledge retention, an argumentative exam was applied and the participants' perception was estimated by a Google form. The learning activity had a significant impact on the performance of the course with a p-value of <0.01, and according to the evaluation, the students consider that this type of activity helps them to retain concepts and information.