How Can a Serious Game Impact Student Motivation and
Learning?
NARET TREVIÑO-GUZMÁN
[email protected]
Advisor: CRISTINA POMALES-GARCÍA
UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO – MAYAGÜEZ CAMPUS
Department of INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
Abstract
A simulation computer game focused on motivating and supporting learning of fundamental Industrial Engineering (IE) concepts in a manufacturing environment was tested. A group of 44 IE
freshman and pre-college students participated as gamers to test the effectiveness of the game. Results show that students experienced an increase in motivation to pursue or continue IE studies
after the gaming activity, as well as an increase in understanding about some of the roles an IE performs within a manufacturing environment. The simulation game allowed students to grasp
aspects among a variety of areas within the field; particularly about Economic Analysis, Human Resources Planning, and Industrial Organization and Management. Results from the interviews
show that participants were able to recall new concepts from the gaming activity relevant to the IE career, suggesting that gamers were able to transfer new ideas from knowledge gained by
playing. Our study suggests that gaming can be used to recruit, motivate and retain the best talent while providing opportunities for learning in context. Future work aims to evaluate the impact of
the game at different stages of the IE program career, with particular emphasis on retention and learning in context.
Introduction
Results (Cont.)
60%
Percentages of Gamers
The IE Department at UPRM in collaboration with the Computer Engineering and
Graphic Arts departments developed a serious computer game denominated Virtual
Factory (VF). The VF game was tested with the following objectives:
 Understand if the game is a useful tool to motivate students to pursue a career in
IE.
 Understand if the game improves student’s understanding about IE.
 Measure difference in responses between high school and freshmen participants.
 Identify if the game supports student’s learning in context.
Methodology
Pre-Test
50%
Post-Test
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Ques ons Used to Measure Mo va on and Analyze Understanding
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
100
Learning in Context:
Human Resources Management
Keywords: Hire/Fire, Assign Roles (100%)
Keywords: Activities’ Priorities (21%)
POST-TEST
PLAY VF
90
Figure 2: Motivational ratings
Production Planning & Scheduling
PRE-TEST
80
Motivational Rating (0-100 scale)
(1) On a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 means not mo vated and 100 means extremely mo vated,
indicate how mo vated you feel to start/con nue undergraduate studies in IE.
(2) Do you want to apply to the IE undergraduate program or con nue undergraduate IE studies?
(3) Based on your understanding, what do you think IE is?
S
T
A
R
T
70
Cost Analysis & Control
Unit Load
Keywords: Cost, Income, Profit (11%)
Keywords: Transportation Amount (29%)
IE Manufacturing Concepts
PRE-COLLEGE
Equipment Management
Facilities Planning
Keywords: Buy/Sell, Maintenance (93%)
Material Requirement Planning
TYPE OF
STUDENT?
INTERVIEW
Keywords: Re-order Point, Raw Material, Order Quantity (86%)
Figure 3: Percentages of gamers that recognized of IE Manufacturing Concepts
Understanding About IE:
FRESHMAN
59%
60%
Percentage of Gamers that
Identified
the Aspect
of Gamers
Percentages
Ques ons Used to Analyze Learning in Context
(1) What decisions could you make in the game?
(2) How did your decisions affect your budget?
Figure 1: Process followed during study
Results
Motivation:
Table 1: Wilcoxon Ranked Signed Tests for change in motivation
H0: There is no change in motivation before and after gaming; H1: Gaming increases motivation levels
Level of Significance (α): 0.05
Reject H0 if P-value < α
N
Median
P-value
H0
H1
Pre-College
30
15
0
X
Freshman
14
10
0.014
X
that Identified IE Aspects
E
N
D
Keywords: Storage/Slots (43%)
55%
Pre-Test
Post-Test
50%
41%
40%
32%
30%
20%
27%
20%
16%
20%
20%20%
16%
14%
11%
10%
20%
11%
5%
7%
11%
9%
5%
2%
0%
Production
Process
Design
Control
Scheduling
Improvement (Methods & (Production, of Resources
Systems)
Process &
Quality)
Decision
Making
Production
Planning &
Logistics
Diversity
Human
Industrial
Economic
Resources Organization Analysis
&
Management
Industrial Engineering Aspect
Industrial Engineering Aspect
Figure 4: Frequent IE
aspects recognized by gamers
Table 2: Mann-Whitney Statistical Test for change in motivation
H0: No difference between change in motivation; H1: Difference between change in motivation
Level of Significance (α): 0.05
Reject H0 if P-value < α
N
Median
P-value
H0
H1
Pre-College
30
15
0.1901
X
Freshman
14
10
Table
Changesininstudents'
students’motivation
motivationafter
afterplaying
playing
Table
4: 3:
Changes
Remained the
Increased
Decreased
Same
Pre-College (%)
24 (80%)
3 (10%)
3 (10%)
Freshman (%)
8 (57%)
6 (43%)
0 (0%)
Total
32 (73%)
9 (20%)
3 (7%)
Pre-Test Gamer 1
A Bit
2%
An Industrial Engineer is responsible
for facilitating the production of goods.
A Lot
25%
Produc on
Post-Test Gamer 1
A Li le Bit
0%
Quite a Bit
73%
Nothing
0%
Pre-Test Gamer 2
An Industrial Engineer seeks to
improve things.
Post-Test Gamer 2
An Industrial Engineer is responsible
An Industrial Engineer is responsible
Produc on
for facilitating and creating an order
for improving production processes in
Process Improvement
for factories to produce better. He is
an industry in order for production to
responsible of establishing priorities to
be more efficient. To fulfill this
the tasks that need to be done.
purpose he supervises every detail and
Industrial Organiza on
& Management
process.
Figure 5: Self-perception
of learning after playing
Improvement
Process Improvement
Produc on
Industrial Management
.
Figure 6: Example of context analysis
Conclusions
• Both groups experienced an increase in motivation to pursue or continue IE studies after the gaming activity.
• The VF game increased participants’ understanding about some of the roles an IE performs within a manufacturing environment; particularly about Economic Analysis, Human Resources
Planning, and Industrial Organization and Management.
• Results from the interviews show that participants were able to recall new concepts from the gaming activity relevant to the IE career.
• Our study suggests that gaming can be used as a motivational tool to recruit, and retain the best talent while providing opportunities for learning in context.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF Award No. 0835990), the Dean of Engineering and the collaboration of faculty members from Industrial
Engineering, Computer Engineering and Graphic Arts departments. We also thanks former and current development teams for their efforts directed towards the success of the VF game project.
7th NEA Science Day
Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate
Liaison Office University of Puerto Rico- Mayagüez