A Life-Development Game for Thai First-Year Engineering Students

This paper presented a learning model for the life goal and development in a general education course for engineering students. The learning was based on the Buddhist concept of holistic life development. The instruction model was based on an online game and a discussion session. Every student made one’s own decision on each step of one’s life from entering an undergraduate program through a decade of professional practice. The game was used as the opening activity for further discussions and Buddhist-style counseling with the aim of deep learning from self-investigation and reflection. The instruction was designed, implemented, and led by Buddhist monks who had practiced as registered engineers; the monks used their experiences to simulate scenarios, choices, and dilemmas that engineers might encounter during professional practices in Thailand. The outcome was achieved via internal reflection and consolidation of life values and decisions, individually. Students expressed good reception for the topics and the activities.