The Future of Education

Enhancing science teaching requires strategies and resources that foster student motivation [1], often linked to the types of learning resources adopted [2]. Among these, educational games have demonstrated significant pedagogical benefits, serving as engaging tools that facilitate learning in an accessible and interactive manner [3,4]. The integration of game-based learning not only makes educational content more attractive but also creates a motivational environment conducive to knowledge acquisition [5]. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of educational games in promoting academic success through the implementation of the game “Lamarck Says”. This game was designed to engage students in the principles of biological evolution according to Lamarckism, enabling them to simulate Lamarck’s laws of evolution while fostering teamwork and competitive dynamics. The methodology was applied to an 11^th-grade class (n=12), and its impact was assessed through a comparative analysis of students’ performance before and after the intervention. The results were measured using V Gowin’s epistemological tool, revealing an average post-intervention score of 87.2%, a significant improvement compared to the diagnostic test administered before the game’s implementation (73.3%). The findings reinforce the potential of educational games as effective pedagogical tools for science teaching. By offering an engaging, interactive, and collaborative learning experience, the game significantly enhanced students' understanding of biological evolution. This aligns with previous studies highlighting the role of gamification in fostering student motivation and improving conceptual learning in science education [3,4,5]. Future research should explore the scalability of this approach in larger and more diverse students, as well as the long-term retention of knowledge gained through educational games.