Assessment of Students’ Mastery of Construction Management and Engineering Concepts through Board Game Design
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 143, Issue 4
Abstract
Although the use of games to help students learn is explicit in the literature, little research has been conducted on student-developed games to assess student learning. The objective of this research is to establish the use of a Game Design Module as a way to assess students’ mastery of course content where students modify existing board games to teach players (i.e., their classmates) course content. Three variations of the module were implemented in three sections of CON 252: Building Methods, Materials and Equipment at Arizona State University (180 total participants). The module was assessed using a mixed-methods approach of student surveys, reflective journal entries, and rating-scale/rubric evaluation of student work. Module results were compared with a Control Activity representing a traditional assessment method. Results show that using board game design as a method for assessing student retention of concepts improved student performance and increased student satisfaction. Overall, students reported greater enjoyment of the Game Design Module than the Control Activity because it involved creativity and teamwork and allowed active demonstration of course concepts.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM (TUES) Type 1 Program (formerly CCLI): Award No. 0942172/1242325; Venture Well (formerly National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance) Course and Program Grant Award No. 5120-07; the University of Pittsburgh Innovation in Excellence Award (IEA); the ASU Gary and Diane Tooker Professorship for Effective Education in STEM; the National Science Foundation Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM (TUES) Type 2 Program: DUE Award Nos. 1323719 and 1323190; an Arizona State University NASA Space Grant Fellowship; and the National Science Foundation IUSE Program: DUE Award Nos. 1504576 and 1504817.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 143 • Issue 4 • October 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 30, 2015
Accepted: Mar 1, 2017
Published online: Jun 14, 2017
Published in print: Oct 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Nov 14, 2017
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