Search for: All records

This Work-in-Progress research paper focuses on the game-based learning environment of GeoExplorer, a digital learning tool that simulates Cone Penetration Testing (CPT) – a field test that civil engineers conduct to understand soil properties. This paper aims to investigate the gendered patterns of student interaction with GeoExplorer, if any, and the associated gendered patterns of content comprehension and self-efficacy related to one's ability to pursue CPT in the field, if any. As such, we ask: (1) How, if at all, does gender affect a student's belief in their ability to apply skills gained through engagement with GeoExplorer in real world environments? and (2) How, if at all, do prior gaming experience and gender impact the GeoExplorer play experience? Four open-ended semi-structured interviews regarding students' experience with gameplay, gender identity, and learning were analyzed. Preliminary analyses used narrative and grounded theory approaches. Our early findings indicate a lack of student insight on the role of their gender identity on their gameplay experience and the presence of a gendered impact of gameplay on student learning and self-efficacy in carrying out CPT in the field. 

This Work-in-Progress Research paper focuses on digital game-based learning (DGBL), which refers to the use of a virtual environment to support students’ learning. In this exploratory study, we examine how students engage with GeoExplorer, a digital game-based learning environment that simulates Cone-Penetration Testing (CPT), an on-site test used in geotechnical engineering to investigate soil properties that students typically don’t have access to. In GeoExplorer’s CPT activity, students participate in a virtual internship in which they examine several sites with varied types of soil. This paper investigates DGBL environments by leveraging Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to ask the following research questions: (1) How do "freedom" and autonomy within GeoExplorer encourage students’ new emergent learning strategies? and (2) How do emergent learning strategies in GeoExplorer support students’ confidence as they self-guide their learning? Ten open-ended semi-structured interviews were performed with civil engineering students from three U.S.-based institutions. The data are analyzed using narrative analysis and a grounded theory approach. Our preliminary findings indicate that, while GeoExplorer is intended as a complement to in-person learning, it serves both as a complement and supplement to the online learning that helps to engage students during the pandemic. Students share that a felt sense of "freedom" within GeoExplorer encourages them to engage in different emergent learning strategies, such as repetition and trial and error. Students also describe that these emergent learning strategies promote knowledge retention and understanding, and further support their confidence in performing CPT. Our preliminary findings provide opportunities for students to practice autonomy and develop competency – two out of three basic psychological needs in SDT – in their educational processes. 

This paper proposes the use of collaborative secondary data analysis (SDA) as a tool for building capacity in engineering education research. We first characterise the value of collaborative SDA as a tool to help emerging researchers develop skills in qualitative data analysis. We then describe an ongoing collaboration that involves a series of workshops as well as two pilot projects that seek to develop and test frameworks and practices for SDA in engineering education research. We identify emerging benefits and practical challenges associated with implementing SDA as a capacity building tool, and conclude with a discussion of future work.