Shanbari, H A (2016) Evaluating the use of video games in construction management education. PhD thesis, University of Florida, USA.
Abstract
The new approach for education calls for more interactive methods to communicate with students. New technologies have found their way into classrooms and have proven to be more effective in delivering material to the students. Video games have been introduced as one of the possible new tools for educating the upcoming generation in many different fields. Specifically, construction management education has attempted to use simulation software to introduce students to various construction related concepts. However, these simulations missed the mark when it came to the fun factor which affected the uptake and therefore the educational impact of such tools. CONVEX is an educational video game that was developed at the University of Florida with the objective of teaching construction management concepts without sacrificing enjoyment. The video game's educational impact was tested in several classrooms. The students in these classes were divided into two groups: a control group and an experimental group. The control group continued with traditional classroom learning, while the experimental group was exposed to CONVEX in addition to the traditional classroom lectures. Questionnaires that tested students' knowledge of construction management concepts were distributed before and after the experimental group played the game. The collected data indicated that the game helped the experimental group retain more knowledge than the control group.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Issa, R A and Flood, I |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | education; games; learning; teaching; simulation; gamification |
| Index terms: | new technology, classroom, questionnaire, gamification, construction management education |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, user engagement, innovation and technology management, construction type, professional education |
| Topics: | Construction Technology, Research Practice, Education, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here