Learning to design in a serious game

Abstract

This paper describes, discusses and reflects how a second-year Engineering Design project in a Mechan-ical Engineering bachelors programme has been gamified by introducing playful elements into the course (which already incorporates Problem-Based and Project-Oriented Learning). One of the aims for reorganising the course has been to intensify its immersive character. Conducting the project in the form of a Serious Game also helped to place emphasize on the inevitable necessity of considering eco-nomic efficiency in the design process. Thus, the course provided a free space for experiencing person-Ally that development should not necessarily strive for the technically best solution but for one that is largely accepted by the market and thus invited students to explore the perspectives of different stake-holders in the design process. Therefore, this paper gives an overview of Game-Based Learning in higher education, presents exemplarily how a design-related project course can be reorganised as a Se-rious Game, provides indications for the inclusion of measurable project out-comes in the course grad-ing, and shares experiences made during the supervision of the course.