Exploring the potential of edu-breakout and classroom quizzes to gamify teaching at university: an exploratory study with italian and spanish pre-service teachers

This study explores the efficacy of integrating educational breakout games and classroom quiz into teacher training practices, focusing specifically on pre-service teachers enrolled in primary education programs in two distinct cultural contexts: Spain and Italy. Pre-service teachers represent a unique demographic, as they are future educators who will apply these pedagogical techniques in diverse classroom environments. By involving this cohort in gamified activities, the study aims to assess the impact of these immersive learning approaches on their motivation and perceptions regarding the use of gamified resources in their future teaching careers. The findings suggest that educational breakouts and interactive quizzes positively influence certain aspects of learning. In Italy, significant changes in perceptions were observed, with educational breakouts being seen as particularly motivating and useful for content review, while interactive quizzes were considered more motivating and suitable for university-level instruction. In contrast, no significant changes were detected in the Spanish cohort. These results raise the question of whether the differences observed in the Italian students' pre- and post-test responses are related to their experience designing edu-breakout games, as the level of exposure to gamified strategies as participants was similar in both the Spanish and Italian groups.