Title
Enhancing online and mobile experimentations using gamification strategies
Abstract
In teaching theoretical topics, modern STEM education uses interactive hands-on approaches, which support students in understanding the topic instead of teaching them simply how to memorize theoretical concepts. Pedagogical strategies in fields with an abundance of abstract concepts, such as physics or electrical engineering, additionally recommend experiential experience, such as laboratory experiments, as essential learning tools. To fulfill increased demand for engineers, additional educational opportunities have been created, which include online, remote and blended learning environments. Unfortunately, providing hands-on experience in these environments, which is as effective as in-class experiments in STEM fields, is extremely challenging. Different departments have developed online and remote solutions, from single remote introductory courses with online experiments to entire off-campus programs supported by remotely conducted experiments with mobile studios. However, in online situations, students often feel lost, have issues with the technology, and experience lack of engagement. All these factors can result in increased dropout rates or lack of understanding and commitment. Current trends in online education incline towards engaging students using gamification strategies to reduce dropout rates and to increase students' motivation in a playful way. Additionally, creating playful experiences for students can be used to attract novice students to this field. In this paper, we introduce a theoretical framework, which can be used to enhance online and mobile experiments with game design strategies to raise students' engagement and commitment and reduce initial onboarding obstacles.
Year
DOI
Venue
2015
10.1109/EXPAT.2015.7463270
2015 3rd Experiment International Conference (exp.at'15)
Keywords
Field
DocType
gamification,game-based learning,mobile experimentation,mobile labs,online learning,remote learning
Experiential learning,Educational technology,Onboarding,Studio,Computer science,Game design,Blended learning,Multimedia,Memorization,Mobile telephony
Conference
ISSN
Citations 
PageRank 
2376-631X
0
0.34
References 
Authors
5
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Johanna Pirker17022.79
Christian Gutl244.33
Yacob Astatke302.70