Gamification in engineering education and professional training

Journal of Engineering Education Transformations, 2020

Manufacturing of superior quality products at the reduced machining time increases the complexity in machining operation and warrants operator training in specific functional areas which augments the cost. In the current paper, an attempt is made to impregnate the degree of gaming in helping the improvement of machining skills. Gamification enhances the levels of attention by learning through frequent failures and consequently helps in incremental learning. The amalgamation of game mechanics and dynamics in non-gaming applications is a theme of interest in various fields such as education, handling sophisticated equipment, health care, and armed forces etc., in the last few years. The role of the academia is to develop new methodologies and tools which include digital games along with their gamification techniques in the contemporary learning practices. Furthermore, game techniques, gamification practices in education and e-learning are given special emphasis. A special discussion on engineering games, gamification platforms and empirical surveys is presented with a focus on education sector.

Engineering Education needs to be approached in different, innovative ways to meet the needs of society, learners, and education providers. This ranges from new educational programs and innovative pedagogies in individual classrooms, to online and immersive learning, to micro-credentials and modularity along with how to enable rapid adaptation for reskilling and upskilling, to entirely new pathways of restructuring education. Gamification is the application of game elements and digital game design techniques to non-game problems, such as learning challenges. It is about using game-based mechanics, aesthetics, and game thinking to enhance users’ engagement, motivate action, and support learning. At first view, the concept of gamification does not contain game design elements, but with the addition of additional elements such as the video game component that is applied in different contexts, the users are encouraged to participate in learning activities and complete learning challenges successfully. The first step in the process of designing a gamification activity is to think like a game designer. According to Cook (2013), any process can be gamified when the following requirements are covered: (i) the gamified activity is easy to learn, (ii) user progress can be measured, (iii) continuous feedback is provided to users.

2022

Engineering Education needs to be approached in different, innovative ways to meet the needs of society, learners, and education providers. This ranges from new educational programs and innovative pedagogies in individual classrooms, to online and immersive learning, to micro-credentials and modularity along with how to enable rapid adaptation for reskilling and upskilling, to entirely new pathways of restructuring education. Gamification is the application of game elements and digital game design techniques to non-game problems, such as learning challenges. It is about using game-based mechanics, aesthetics, and game thinking to enhance users’ engagement, motivate action, and support learning. At first view, the concept of gamification does not contain game design elements, but with the addition of additional elements such as the video game component that is applied in different contexts, the users are encouraged to participate in learning activities and complete learning challenges successfully. The first step in the process of designing a gamification activity is to think like a game designer. According to Cook (2013), any process can be gamified when the following requirements are covered: (i) the gamified activity is easy to learn, (ii) user progress can be measured, (iii) continuous feedback is provided to users.

2023

The world of education has changed. And for all the trials and challenges of managing education during a pandemic, we have also learned a few things that can make our teaching and learning experiences even better in the future. The pandemic imposed constant balance exercises in all aspects of our daily life, including education. Suddenly the living room of the house turned into a work space, the kitchen replaced the canteen, the children's office became a student seat. There was a new area of unknown, irregular and unpredictable forced experimentation. Now what is right, beneficial and effective is an unanswerable question in the absence of previous experience, and the only way to answer it is by trial and error. Universities, in the context of "emergency" remote teaching, also had to experiment. Professors and students found themselves inside virtual classrooms, facing digital boards, closed cameras and microphones. How could a professor not be frustrated by low levels of interaction during the lesson, and how could a student understand a problem without disrupting the fragile digital teaching flow? What was the learning outcome after each two-hour e-teaching? Was the learner's attention maintained, the learning objective achieved, knowledge transferred, new skills acquired? The answers had to be given through experimentation, creativity and innovation. To stop digital teaching from being monotonous and boring, we tried to turn it into a game in order to engage students and lead to better learning outcomes. Gamification is the use of game mechanics in non-game situations. It involves the use of video game elements, such as leaderboards, levels and badges in non-game activities aimed at improving the user experience and increasing user engagement. We find examples of gamification in various fields, e.g. in physical exercise and health (Pereira et al., 2014; Johnson et al., 2016), in the promotion of products and services (Huotari, & Hamari, 2012) and, of course, in education (Triantafyllou & Georgiadis, 2022a; Triantafyllou & Georgiadis, 2022b; Triantafyllou, 2022c; Triantafyllou, 2022d; Triantafyllou & Sapounidis, 2023). For example, airlines enable travelers to earn points with each trip that they can later redeem, or sports equipment companies have developed apps on smart phones and watches so that users can celebrate their performance with digital trophies, compete and challenge their running friends. In the learning process, gamification includes direct feedback mechanisms for learners, point systems, ranking tables, prizes, badges, progress bars and avatars among others, with the main objectives of mobilizing, encouraging and guiding the participant to achieve learning progress. Game-based learning makes the most of these mechanisms with an a priori architecture, which clearly defines the goal of the game, its basic functions and scenario, the rules of progression, competition and interaction with the application and teammates (Triantafyllou & Sapounidis, 2023). The reason why gamification is of particular interest is that research shows an increased degree of involvement and interest of participants when an environment or activity incorporates elements of gamification (Triantafyllou, 2023). Game-based learning therefore activates not only cognitive functions, such as attention or perception, but also feelings of excitement, surprise, joy, sadness or even anger. This experience results in the achievement of meaningful learning objectives, such as deepening knowledge and developing intrapersonal (e.g. project scheduling) and interpersonal skills (e.g. collaboration).

2013 5th International Conference on Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications (VS-GAMES), 2013

Well-designed games are good motivators by nature, as they imbue players with clear goals and a sense of reward and fulfillment, thus encouraging them to persist and endure in their quests. Recently, this motivational power has started to be applied to non-game contexts, a practice known as Gamification. This adds gaming elements to non-game processes, motivating users to adopt new behaviors, such as improving their physical condition, working more, or learning something new. This paper describes an experiment in which game-like elements were used to improve the delivery of a Master's level College course, including scoring, levels, leaderboards, challenges and badges. To assess how gamification impacted the learning experience, we compare the gamified course to its non-gamified version from the previous year, using different performance measures. We also assessed student satisfaction as compared to other regular courses in the same academic context. Results were very encouraging, showing significant increases ranging from lecture attendance to online participation, proactive behaviors and perusing the course reference materials. Moreover, students considered the gamified instance to be more motivating, interesting and easier to learn as compared to other courses. We finalize by discussing the implications of these results on the design of future gamified learning experiences.

2018 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)

In this research study, the authors designed, proposed, tested, and partially researched a methodology for the gamification of academic disciplines through the example of the Elite Engineering Education (EEE) program in Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU). Gamification implies augmenting the process of training in academic disciplines by introducing game elements that motivate students to gain new knowledge, develop their competencies, and, in the end, improve a university graduate's knowledge and skill levels.

Study activities during our early years in school were fun-filled due to the vital role games played in moulding our character. Unfortunately, as we advanced in year and class, studying gradually lost its attractiveness. This has negatively affected the interest of 21 st century students in our tertiary institutions since the mode of knowledge transfer does not measure up to the technological tools they use. Apparently, with the multitude of addictive distractions facing students, technological advancements in the field of engineering and the lack of proper synergy between the private sector, government and the academia, it is now obvious that current graduates are not in tune with the needs of various industries. This study is intended to show that the infusion of gamification into various academic activities can assist in addressing this challenge via an online survey and competition/survey conducted on youtube and at the Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun (FUPRE), Delta State, Nigeria, respectively.

EDULEARN proceedings, 2017

Results of the experience of the application of gamification to Engineering courses at the University of Málaga, Spain, are presented. The goal is to fight the lack of motivation and reduce the background unevenness detected in these degrees. A detailed description of the implementation is provided, dividing it into three phases: preparation, execution and monitoring. Results of the games (statistics) and students' feedback collected so far are shown for three different courses. They indicate that a good design of the games and award system is necessary to avoid loss of interest from the students. Moreover, adaptation to the context of the course (e.g., number of students) is crucial to guarantee success.

DS 117: Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education (E&PDE 2022), London South Bank University in London, UK. 8th - 9th September 2022, 2022

In the Tec21 educational model [1], one of the core competencies is problem-solving, which is also one of the most requested skills by companies for hiring candidates. Solving problems is a priority competency in training the Tecnologico de Monterrey students. This paper describes the academic experience of a gamification design using problem-solving in a role game. The objective was to redesign the primarily theoretical course to be more empathetic to the confinement situations of students during the pandemic, leveraging available educational technology using gamification. Thus, we created a board game called Problem-Solving Race (PSR), which has evolved into an online game students can play to develop this and other competencies for the graduation profile that we seek in our students. The university's "Virtual Campus" platform (using virtual reality technology) facilitated the gamification for a practical experience that highly engages the students.

2024

The world of education has changed. And for all the trials and challenges of managing education during a pandemic, we have also learned a few things that can make our teaching and learning experiences even better in the future.The pandemic imposed constant balance exercises in all aspects of our daily life, including education. Suddenly the living room of the house turned into a work space, the kitchen replaced the canteen, the children's office became a student seat. There was a new area of unknown, irregular and unpredictable forced experimentation. Now what is right, beneficial and effective is an unanswerable question in the absence of previous experience, and the only way to answer it is by trial and error.Universities, in the context of "emergency" remote teaching, also had to experiment. Professors and students found themselves inside virtual classrooms, facing digital boards, closed cameras and microphones.How could a professor not be frustrated by low levels of interaction during the lesson, and how could a student understand a problem without disrupting the fragile digital teaching flow? What was the learning outcome after each two-hour e-teaching? Was the learner's attention maintained, the learning objective achieved, knowledge transferred, new skills acquired? The answers had to be given through experimentation, creativity and innovation.To stop digital teaching from being monotonous and boring, we tried to turn it into a game in order to engage students and lead to better learning outcomes. Gamification is the use of game mechanics in non-game situations. It involves the use of video game elements, such as leaderboards, levels and badges in non-game activities aimed at improving the user experience and increasing user engagement. We find examples of gamification in various fields, e.g. in physical exercise and health (Pereira et al., 2014; Johnson et al., 2016), in the promotion of products and services (Huotari, & Hamari, 2012) and, of course, in education (Triantafyllou & Georgiadis, 2022). For example, airlines enable travelers to earn points with each trip that they can later redeem, or sports equipment companies have developed apps on smart phones and watches so that users can celebrate their performance with digital trophies, compete and challenge their running friends.In the learning process, gamification includes direct feedback mechanisms for learners, point systems, ranking tables, prizes, badges, progress bars and avatars among others, with the main objectives of mobilizing, encouraging and guiding the participant to achieve learning progress. Game-based learning makes the most of these mechanisms with an a priori architecture, which clearly defines the goal of the game, its basic functions and scenario, the rules of progression, competition and interaction with the application and teammates (Triantafyllou & Sapounidis, 2023).The reason why gamification is of particular interest is that research shows an increased degree of involvement and interest of participants when an environment or activity incorporates elements of gamification (Triantafyllou & Georgiadis, 2022). Game-based learning therefore activates not only cognitive functions, such as attention or perception, but also feelings of excitement, surprise, joy, sadness or even anger. This experience results in the achievement of meaningful learning objectives, such as deepening knowledge and developing intrapersonal (e.g. project scheduling) and interpersonal skills (e.g. collaboration).