Abstract
This study reports the design and exploratory evaluation of a gamified learning environment in which generative artificial intelligence was used as a teacher-facing instructional co-design tool, not as a real-time intelligent tutor. The intervention combined problem-based learning, interactive narratives, Moodle deployment, and H5P learning objects in a public school in Montería, Colombia. A technical action-research design was implemented with 113 basic education students in two classroom scenarios: a sixth-grade Technology and Informatics scenario based on ad hoc fantasy narratives for spreadsheet logic, and a ninth-grade Spanish Language scenario based on a literary frame linked to El Periquillo Sarniento. Data sources included teacher appraisal with the COdA learning-object quality framework, student Likert-type perception surveys, Moodle/H5P interaction records, classroom observations, and teacher interviews. The results indicate that the model is feasible and pedagogically useful in low-resource contexts. COdA appraisal showed strong ratings in interactivity, format and design, accessibility, reusability, and interoperability, while also identifying the need for clearer learning objectives and stronger curricular alignment. Student perceptions were more favorable in the sixth-grade scenario than in the ninth-grade scenario. Rather than treating this pattern as a controlled grade-level effect, the article interprets it as a design lesson: dense literary mediation may increase extraneous cognitive load when paired with algorithmic vocabulary. The study concludes that generative artificial intelligence can accelerate human-curated instructional co-design, but the evidence is limited to feasibility, usability, engagement, and perception indicators. Future research should use validated computational-thinking instruments, control groups, and longitudinal designs.
Keywords
- cognitive load
- computational thinking
- gamified learning
- generative artificial intelligence
- instructional co-design
- learning objects
How to Cite
Juan Carlos Giraldo Cardozo, Andrés Felipe Vergara . (2026). Generative AI-Assisted Co-Design of Gamified Computational Thinking Activities: Feasibility and Cognitive Load in Low-Resource Basic Education. International Journal of Contemporary Research and Review , Vol. 17 No. 05 (2026) , 20305-20319 . https://doi.org/10.15520/6xkgea67