Game-Based Learning in Engineering Education

The new generation of undergraduates entering UK higher education have grown up with computer games of ever increasing sophistication. In this educational project a race game, Racing Academy, was developed to investigate how game technology and gaming communities could enhance undergraduate engineering education. The computer game embodied the principles of engineering dynamics to simulate and display in real time a car drag race in which students ‘designed’ their car by selecting an engine, tyres and gearbox from a set menu. The aim was to complete a set course in the minimum time and graphically display the dynamic performance in order to better understand the engineering system. The students and staff involved in this project provided extensive feedback on the exercise and identified the visual nature of game-based learning software as a positive feature that helped illustrate engineering dynamics. Game-based learning communities, organised around tutor groups, were seen as an excellent way of encouraging an element of competition in a small non-threatening environment while discussion forums based around Moodle provided efficient support for the large group of 160 students. Finally, learning through ‘doing’ in a game environment was proven to be a successful method of illustrating physical phenomena

Assessing the Unseen: Roles of Confidentiality and Trust in Software Engineering Work-based Learning Programmes [Poster]

A typical academic degree focused on software engineering has little practical relationship with the industry it is named for, other than the occasional placement or internship. Unlike other professions such as medicine, dentistry and veterinary sciences, candidates do not need to participate in significant professional practice to earn their degree. Indeed, if we consider a traditional academic software engineering student they probably have far more experience constructing shiny new ‘green-field’ systems, than maintaining the old ‘brown-field’ systems found in industry, and generating most professional work. Consequently, there is growing enthusiasm for work-based learning programmes that provide an opportunity for candidates to cement abstract academic theory in concrete personal experience. Work-based learning software engineering students earn their degree by combining theory with actual practice in a professional environment. Nevertheless, the intangible outcomes for much of software engineering has led to an industry obsessed with confidentiality, driven by concerns of employees smuggling source code to competitors or regulators. This obsession potentially presents a barrier to work-based learning schemes as employers prevent outsiders, even close higher education partners, from observing the systems and the source code that learners are working on. Learners may have the opportunity for concrete personal experience, but educators are barred from observing any such experience. However, confidentiality agreements may not necessarily present barriers to assessment, but instead provide an opportunity to assess comprehension and transferable skills by requiring abstract descriptions and reports. This is the converse to the problem in some programming courses, where students submit code without demonstrating that they understand it and can discuss it in terms of the concepts taught. In this talk and accompanying poster we explore some models for software engineering work-based learning programmes that have the potential to maintain confidentiality while assessing learners’ comprehension and ability. We invite discussion and criticism from conference attendees of the presented models, and are interested in potential partners for future collaboration

Enhancing Skills Transfer through Problem-based Learning. Department of Computer Science, Technical Report Series. NUIM-CS-TR-2005-13

Problem-based Learning (PBL) has proved itself as a successful teaching and learning environment in the medical field, and has slowly become the preferred teaching and learning method in other disciplines. In this report we look at the learning theories that have influenced PBL and investigate the use of PBL in computer science. We extend the boundaries of PBL and software engineering education with a proposal that fully integrates PBL into a computer science and software engineering degree structure. The objective of this proposal is to produce graduates who can successfully transfer their knowledge and skills into practical situations in new domains

Enhancing Skills Transfer through Problem-based Learning. Department of Computer Science, Technical Report Series. NUIM-CS-TR-2005-13

Problem-based Learning (PBL) has proved itself as a successful teaching and learning environment in the medical field, and has slowly become the preferred teaching and learning method in other disciplines. In this report we look at the learning theories that have influenced PBL and investigate the use of PBL in computer science. We extend the boundaries of PBL and software engineering education with a proposal that fully integrates PBL into a computer science and software engineering degree structure. The objective of this proposal is to produce graduates who can successfully transfer their knowledge and skills into practical situations in new domains

A new development model for educational software

In this paper we propose a new development model for Educational Software called X-TEC. It is based on the paradigms of software engineering applied to the construction of educational software. This model allows educational software developers to reduce the gap between instructional design and technical development. Our approach presents two overlapping extensions: the instructional model and the learning environment. The instructional model will be related to the instructor/educational software and the learning environment will be associated with the student/educational software. The X-TEC model promotes the interaction between these two extensions, allowing the deployment of a common development platform.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

X-TEC: a new development model for educational software

In this paper we propose a new development model for Educational Software called X-TEC. It is based on the paradigms of software engineering applied to the construction of educational software. This model allows educational software developers to reduce the gap between instructional design and technical development. Our approach presents two overlapping extensions: the instructional model and the learning environment. The instructional model will be related to the instructor/educational software and the learning environment will be associated with the student/educational software. The X-TEC model promotes the interaction between these two extensions, allowing the deployment of a common development platform.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

'Create the future': an environment for excellence in teaching future-oriented Industrial Design Engineering

In 2001, the University of Twente started a new course on Industrial Design Engineering. This paper describes the insights that have been employed in developing the curriculum, and in developing the environment in which the educational activities are facilitated. The University of Twente has a broad experience with project-oriented education [1], and because one of the goals of the curriculum is to get the students acquainted with working methods as employed in e.g. design bureaus, this project-oriented approach has been used as the basis for the new course. In everyday practice, this implies a number of prerequisites to be imposed on the learning environment: instead of focusing on the sheer transfer of information, this environment must allow the students to imbibe the knowledge and competences that make them better designers. Consequently, a much more flexible environment has to be created, in which working as a team becomes habitual, and where cutting-edge technologies are available to facilitate the process. This can be realized because every student owns a laptop, with all relevant software and a full-grown course management system within reach. Moreover, the learning environment provides the fastest possible wireless network and Internet access available [2]. This obviously has its repercussions on the way the education is organized. On the one hand, e.g. virtual reality tools, CAD software and 3D printing are addressed in the curriculum, whereas on the other hand more traditional techniques (like sketching and model making) are conveyed explicitly as well. Together with a sound footing in basic disciplines ranging from mathematics to design history, this course offers the students a profound education in Industrial Design Engineering. The paper describes in more detail the curriculum and the education environment, based on which it is assessed if the course on Industrial Design Engineering can live up to its motto: ‘Create the future’, and what can be done to further enable the students to acquire the full denotation of that motto

3D Interactive virtual environments for E-learning, teaching and technical support: Multiplayer teaching and learning games for the School of Art, Design & Architecture.

This paper outlines the key stages of a University funded teaching and learning project, the main objective of the project is to build an online 3D virtual Ramsden workshop (RW) game learning environment. Using 3D modeling software and interactive 3D game programming technologies the project team have accurately modeled and simulated the Ramsden workshop (RW) building; The 3D virtual RW workshop has been accurately built to scale and is fitted with virtual furniture, virtual computers, virtual engineering machinery. These components have been developed as an initial range of interactive game based learning tools. In this project the team has also begun to simulate Health and Safety procedures, created software CAD/CAM tutorials and are developing and testing innovative learning support tools for all levels of learners. The 3D Virtual Ramsden workshop (RW) game is part of ongoing research work that applies the use of 3D virtual software for developing appropriate interactive 3D spaces, avatars, objects and simulations for learning, teaching, training, exhibitions, experimental art and practice in virtual environments. Additionally within this project the research team also modelled a virtual Creative Arts Building and a University of Huddersfield virtual campus