ABSTRACT
Due to limited laboratory facilities and other constraints, many engineering students may not have the opportunity to engage with practical, hands-on learning experiences. Although some research suggests that game-based learning can provide students with these pedagogical benefits, much of that work does not directly assess the impact of such games on student learning outcomes. This paper examines the impact of leveraging a game-based virtual lab in an advanced, college-level engineering course on material properties. We compare learning outcomes derived from course content experienced in the virtual lab versus traditional classroom and homework formats. Students completed classroom activities and assignments in the virtual lab space for approximately half of the course content throughout the semester. Learning was assessed on three separate exams, each featuring content associated with the virtual lab, as well as content associated with traditional classroom and assignment formats. Our analyses compared student performance on both types of exam content. Students scored significantly higher on exam items corresponding to content learned using the virtual laboratory space compared to exam content learned only through traditional classroom and homework formats. Our results are consistent with prior work on game based learning in engineering and contribute to the existing research by providing a direct assessment of students’ learning with the game-based experience, suggesting that game-based learning can, indeed, improve learning outcomes in this context. This particular virtual platform in question (Minecraft) is highly versatile and may offer further opportunities for adaptation and classroom research. While our data supports these conclusions, we acknowledge this is just a single study with a small sample size and features carefully selected topics that were covered in the Minecraft exercises.
DOI: 10.18260/3-1-1153-36056
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