The use of interactive games and the impact on autonomous learning

Resumen

To delve deeper into this topic, the research was proposed with the aim of developing intrinsic motivation through gamification strategies, evidencing its impact on the academic performance of eighth grade "A" students of the República del Ecuador High School. A quantitative approach was used to evaluate the impact of interactive games on students' motivation and academic performance. The sample consisted of 21 students, who were surveyed to gather information about the frequency of use, perception, and effectiveness of interactive games in the learning process. The results showed that, although most students showed a marked preference for online games, differences were observed in terms of their impact on content comprehension, suggesting the need to adapt gamification strategies to individual learning characteristics. The study provides evidence of the potential of interactive games to foster autonomy, increase motivation, and moderately improve academic performance in English language teaching, constituting a promising strategy to transform traditional teaching methods.