Game-based learning--using games to achieve learning objectives--represents a promising and increasingly popular means of progressing engineering education's decades-long goal of bringing more evidence-based, active learning pedagogy into the classroom. However, if game-based learning is to proliferate as a pedagogy, research on game-based teaching is critical to provide practical recommendations for implementation, making the pedagogy more accessible to instructors. However, reviews of game-based literature reveal that little work exists in the game-based teaching space, and what work exists models high-level teaching practices and archetypal roles, which often fail to pinpoint specific practices game-based instructors can use to be successful. Moreover, reviews of game-based learning literature more generally suggest that research on how to improve student motivation in game-based learning settings--an important variable for learning and a longstanding argument for the value of games in education--are lacking in both quantity and theoretical soundness.
To redress these gaps, I conducted a primarily qualitative, multiple-case study of seven non-digital game-based learning activities in engineering with the goal of furthering game-based teaching research and providing practical recommendations to instructors when using games in their classrooms. Using the MUSIC Model of Motivation as a motivation framework and the Observation Protocol for Adaptive Learning as a framework for categorizing teaching practices, I interviewed instructors about how they expected their teaching practices to affect student motivation, and I interviewed these instructors' students about how they actually perceived their instructors' actions as affecting their motivation. By comparing instructor and student responses, I derived recommendations for game-based learning practice that are likely to have a high impact on student motivation, and condensed these recommendations into a four-phase framework of game-based teaching to bolster student motivation. I supplemented my interview data with observation data to construct detailed summaries of each case I studied.
The recommendations I offer in my framework can serve as useful resources for instructors seeking to foray into game-based teaching practices or improve their existing game activities, especially in engineering. Moreover, my study provides a model for investigating game-based teaching practices and motivation in game-based learning using established theoretical frameworks in natural classroom settings. / Ph. D. / Game-based learning—the use of games to achieve learning objectives—is a promising and increasingly popular way to introduce active learning into engineering classrooms, which is something engineering education as a field has been trying to achieve for decades. However, if game-based learning is to reach a wider audience of engineering instructors, research on the teaching practices instructors use in game-based learning classrooms is important, so that researchers can provide practical recommendations to instructors and make game-based learning less intimidating. However, little work has been done to study these teaching practices, and the work that exists tends to look at high-level trends across teaching practices, rather than offering specific pieces of advice. Moreover, research on how to improve student motivation in game-based learning settings is lacking, which is a problem because student motivation is important for learning and is one of the biggest theoretical benefits of using games in education. To fill in some of these gaps, I conducted instructor and student interviews around seven non-digital game-based learning activities in engineering, with the goal of furthering game-based teaching research and providing practical recommendations to instructors considering or currently using games in their classrooms. Using an established framework of student motivation and an existing means of grouping teaching practices, I interviewed instructors about how they expected their teaching practices to affect student motivation, and I interviewed these instructors’ students about how they actually perceived their instructors’ actions as affecting their motivation. By comparing instructor and student responses, I came up with several recommendations for gamebased learning practice that are likely to have a high impact on student motivation, and I produced a framework to serve as a visual aid to help instructors implement teaching practices that can bolster student motivation at any phase of a game-based learning activity. I also supplemented my interview data with observation data to provide readers with detailed summaries of each case I studied. The recommendations I offer in my framework can serve as useful resources for instructors looking to implement game-based learning activities or improve their existing game-based learning activities, especially in engineering. Moreover, my study serves as a model for future researchers who want to qualitatively study game-based teaching practices or motivation in game-based learning using established frameworks.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/86192 |
| Date | 29 November 2018 |
| Creators | Morelock, John Ray |
| Contributors | Engineering Education, Matusovich, Holly M., Jones, Brett D., Bodnar, Cheryl, McNair, Elizabeth D., Ernst, Jeremy V. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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