Gamification applied for Software Engineering teaching-learning process

In specialization courses, normally, the students have concepts from some subjects already consolidated in the undergraduate program. To motivate these students in those disciplines is a challenge to the teacher. The use of "gamification" concepts, that is, application of games in activities that are not games per se, is a methodological solution for the motivation in the classes. In order to evaluate the usage of this technique, an experiment was conducted with a Software Engineering specialization class. The class was divided into teams and through various play activities, the executed works were being scored. Three teaching methodologies were applied: Learning based in problems, based in projects and mental maps. At the end of the course a questionnaire was applied so that the students could evaluate the methodology. The obtained results were satisfactory, because there was a greater engagement of the students during class.