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 Work-in-Progress paper focuses on the qualitative aspects of a larger mixed-methods study about GeoExplorer, a game-based learning aspect of a mixed reality educational environment where students participate in a mock internship with the goal to complete a geotechnical mission involving Cone Penetration Testing, a civil engineering field technique students traditionally get very little exposure to due to its complexity and cost. This work seeks to understand how mixed reality learning environments, specifically game-based learning, support (i) creation of individualized hands-on learning opportunities, particularly during the pandemic-driven remote learning paradigm, and (ii) students' development along various noncognitive axes - confidence and motivation. Methods of narrative analyses and grounded theory are used to identify emergent themes in interviews with 10 undergraduate civil engineering students who experienced GeoExplorer in their required geotechnical engineering courses. Our preliminary findings indicate that the GeoExplorer activity was perceived by students as a novel learning experience, particularly welcomed in a time of remote learning, that motivates them to engage more with content and creates individualized hands-on experiences. Students describe how the activity affects their perceived confidence, often gendered, regarding their ability to perform civil engineering fieldwork. Further analyses of these findings may shed light on the ways in which mixed reality learning environments support equitable learning opportunities for all students.