Educational use and motivational elements of simulation games for mining engineering students: a phenomenological study


Sevim-Cirak N., YILDIRIM Z.

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION, cilt.45, sa.4, ss.550-564, 2020 (ESCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 45 Sayı: 4
  • Basım Tarihi: 2020
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/03043797.2019.1666797
  • Dergi Adı: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Aerospace Database, Communication Abstracts, Compendex, EBSCO Education Source, Educational research abstracts (ERA), ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), INSPEC, Metadex, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.550-564
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Games, simulation games, mining engineering education, educational use of games, phenomenological research, SKILLS
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This phenomenological study investigates mining engineering students' game playing experiences for educational purposes and seeks to understand the essence of their experiences. In this study, three non-gamer and three-gamer mining engineering students were selected through a criterion sampling method, and then data were collected through in-depth phenomenological interviews and focus group interviews. The study showed that visualisation, learning by doing and motivation were the common themes for the benefits of the use of games in education, whereas addiction, underestimation and time management emerged as the possible problems. Motivational elements were found to be challenge, curiosity, control, information seeking, observation, assessment, hypothesis building and decision making that shaped the participants' experiences. However, games' effect changed based on the personal characteristics and interests of the students. It can be claimed that the findings of this study indicate promising results in the use of games in mining engineering education.