Using gamification for engagement and learning in electrical and computer engineering classrooms

Within technical engineering courses, students may struggle with difficult concepts, overwhelming workloads, loss of motivation and a lack of classroom engagement. Studies have shown that students who are engaged and creative in their education have improved learning outcomes in technical understanding and application. This work proposes the use of gamification for the development of both creative and technical understanding. Gamification is the application of game mechanics and typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, rules of play, etc.) to technical education as a method of encouraging student engagement with course material in a compelling and familiar way. This paper describes the development and implementation of a creative design project within an electronic design automation course, as well as a further teaching and learning research evaluation by general public focus groups.