A Gamified Method for Construction Engineering Education: Learning through Guided Active Exploration

Experiential learning through active exploration can play a vital role in fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills in engineering education. However, the complex nature of the construction industry in the 21st century cannot afford an education through trial and error in a real environment. This case study aims to promote experiential learning in construction engineering education by designing, implementing, and empirically evaluating a novel gamified pedagogy that directs students to discover systematic solutions for fundamental construction engineering problems. The game-based pedagogy was implemented in the context of construction project scheduling. The proposed pedagogical method and its gamified elements are designed based on the constructivism learning theory and are grounded in state-of-the-art literature through research-based instructional strategies and conceptual frameworks. A scenario-based interactive game, called Zebel, was developed using the Unity game engine. Using a series of preassessment and postassessment instruments, the method was implemented and evaluated in a graduate-level course for construction planning and scheduling to collect empirical data. The outcomes of this case study indicated that the pedagogy successfully guided students with no background and prior knowledge in construction scheduling to discover the fundamental concepts and systematic solutions for the given problems. Although the focus of this study is on construction scheduling, the proposed pedagogy based on active exploration in an interactive game environment can be adopted in other contexts in construction education.