This research arises as a necessity to solve deficiencies in basic mathematics in university students. The objective was to determine the effect on academic achievement when implementing a didactic strategy for learning arithmetic. The study design is pre-experimental with pretest and post-test. The participants of the experiment are freshman year students for the bachelors in engineering program. 332 students participated in the research, who studied five topics in the didactic strategy. The data were collected with quizzes before and after each learning activity. The data analysis technique carried out was the Mann-Whitney U test for independent samples. Academic achievement improved in four subjects. For this reason, it can be established that the design and implementation of the didactic strategy benefit the students by allowing them to remember a topic in an environment that provides instruction and instant feedback.