A novel game-based approach for teaching an engineering course: Implementation in mechanical vibration course

Abstract

Profound and applicable understanding of most engineering courses has to be achieved by being exposed to different examples and solving a variety of problems. This process is inherently time consuming and difficult and can easily become boring. The method presented in this paper offers a game-based approach to enhance students' learning. Students are divided into teams, competing with each other regularly based on an organized match-up schedule. At each match-up, points are awarded based on the performance on solving an assigned problem and explaining that to the rest of the students. A "Q and A" session follows each presentation for additional points. Certain measures are discussed to improve the process of assigning members for teams and contribution of every member to the overall results. The rules are thoroughly explained and the motivations behind them are discussed. In addition, the faced challenges during the implementation are discussed and the adopted remedies are elaborated. The efficiency of the method has been verified by pre and post evaluations of students' learning assessment and students' feedback. The paper proposes a novel teaching method which successfully exploits the excitement and fun in playing games in order to improve the learning experience for students while improving their social skills such as teamwork and presentation skills. The method proposed is independent of the course contents and therefore can be applied to any other engineering course. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2013.