Effectiveness of a game-based class for interdisciplinary energy systems education in engineering courses

Abstract

AbstractProfessionals in the energy sector are required to understand the interactions among technology, society, and the environment to tackle complex trade-offs among policy issues. The fostering of such professionals with interdisciplinary perspectives has been recognized as a significant target for engineering education in universities. Several studies have shown that game-based learning is suitable for teaching interdisciplinary aspects of sustainability-related issues; however, only a few studies have quantitatively evaluated the percentage of participants that learn something relevant to the predetermined learning targets. This study quantitatively evaluates the effectiveness of a game-based class designed to teach energy policy issues in an engineering course. This game-based class aims to develop a perspective for overcoming the complex trade-offs among policy issues and for developing the abilities and attitudes necessary to build society-wide consensus. Content analysis was adopted as a research method; the contents of free-form reflection reports submitted by 128 students were categorized into 6 topics through careful reading and in-depth discussions, and the proportion of students who mentioned topics relevant to the learning targets was calculated. The results show that 83% of the students learned something relevant to the learning targets, and 37% of them made proposals to overcome the trade-offs among policy issues and conflicts among stakeholders. Further, some students actively deepened their understanding through voluntary surveys, presentations of other students, and by comparing the game and reality. These results suggest that game-based learning is an effective method for interdisciplinary education regarding energy policy issues.