Interactive Microworlds as a Pedagogical Resource for the Inverted Classroom

Abstract

In the present research, interactive micro-worlds were implemented as an inverted classroom pedagogical resource for the teaching of social and English subjects. Microworlds are interactive environments in which learning revolves around the activity of the learner, but not the teacher, since it is the activity of the student, with his or her mistakes, that makes the student learn and achieve significant learning. The purpose is to analyze the effect that these micro-worlds produce in the academic performance of sixth-grade students in rural contexts.

The sample was made up of a total of 69 students, who were given an initial test, called pre-test, and a final test, called the post-test, in each of the subjects. After applying the intervention proposal (interactive microworlds), student learning was evaluated using a semi-quantitative performance scale (from 1 to 4). The data collected at the beginning of the study (pre-test), compared with those obtained after applying the treatment (post-test), were compared with a Wilcoxon test.

Finally, they were presented with the median statistician with a significance value P≤0.05 being accepted as statistically significant. The results obtained showed how the students improved their academic performance in each subject, which demonstrates that the use of micro-worlds is indeed an enhancer of cognitive levels, becoming an excellent pedagogical resource of the invested classroom for teaching, the motivation of and knowledge apprehension. It is suggested to implement it as a teaching-learning strategy in educational situations such as those that the world is experiencing today on behalf of Covid-19.