Enhancing Learning in Digital Systems Courses with Video Games

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Engineering - Electrical (55)This project is developing a prototype implementation of a video game to determine if its use enhances learning in an introductory digital design course, if the video game affects learners' attitudes about the course and the major, and if these effects differ by gender and ethnicity. The prototype is being developed as a single-player game to be played on a personal computer. The investigators are using a game engine, Delta3D, which is open-source software developed by the US military. The game has a vehicle stranded in a remote location away from its base station, with several of its sub-systems malfunctioning. The player must fix the sub-systems by completing a series of progressively more complex tasks that are linked to one or more learning objectives of the course. Both a usability test and an assessment of learner outcomes relative to the course objectives are being used to identify needed revisions to the video game. The summative evaluation, which focuses on the impact of the video games on student learning and attitudes, is examining differences by gender and ethnicity in student outcomes. The broader impacts include contributions to the knowledge base on the usefulness of electronic games for enhancing student learning.