Work in Progress: Gamified Learning in Graphical Communications During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged engineering educators on how to motivate students to study in a virtual environment. This study investigates a gamified learning in a synchronous engineering graphics class taught in a split format, with 50% students attending class in the physical classroom monitored by two TAs, and the other 50% students attending class remotely. All students meet the instructor via Zoom meeting remotely. Since most students who take this course are freshmen and just started their college study, they need more engagement, a sense of connection and belongings. How to motivate these students to study in this virtual environment becomes a challenge. College students, as Gen Zers, grow up immersed in technology, regularly play video games, have an even shorter attention span, and prefer engaged and interactive learning. Gamification, also known as serious game, is the use of game thinking and game mechanisms in a non-game context to engage learners in solving problems. In this study, game-like elements such as point-scoring, leaderboard, quizzes with automatic feedback, individual competition, and extra challenge problems are integrated in the course in a flipped classroom setting. Students can not only earn gamification points through various activities including online quizzes, extra assignment problems, individual question challenge and polleverywhere.com competition in the synchronous class, but also have the option to add gamification points to their assignment grades to improve their final grades. It is hoped that through gamified activities students can be motivated to learn engineering graphics in a student-centered virtual learning environment. Results from the students' perception survey will be collected and analyzed. It is hoped that the gamified learning during the COVID-19 pandemic can still motivate students, hold their attention, enhance their creativity and build strong relationship in a virtual environment.