The Power of Playful Learning - Ethical Decision-Making in a Narrative-Driven, Fictional, Choose-Your-Own Adventure [Work In Progress]
- Conference
- Location
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Baltimore , Maryland
- Publication Date
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June 25, 2023
- Start Date
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June 25, 2023
- End Date
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June 28, 2023
- Conference Session
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Engineering Ethics Division (ETHICS) Technical Session_Tuesday June 27, 9:15 - 10:45
- Tagged Division
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Engineering Ethics Division (ETHICS)
- Page Count
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15
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--44478
- Permanent URL
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https://strategy.asee.org/44478
- Download Count
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95
Paper Authors
Tori Wagner University of Connecticut
Tori Wagner is a doctoral student at the University of Connecticut studying Learning Sciences. She has a background in secondary science education, playful learning, and digital game design.
Landon Bassett University of Connecticut
Landon Bassett is a graduate student at the University of Connecticut who focuses primarily on undergraduate engineering ethics and process safety
Jennifer Pascal University of Connecticut
Jennifer Pascal is an Assistant Professor in Residence at the University of Connecticut. She earned her PhD from Tennessee Technological University in 2011 and was then an NIH Academic Science Education and Research Training (ASERT) Postdoctoral Fellow at
Daniel D. Burkey University of Connecticut
Daniel Burkey is the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Professor-in-Residence in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Connecticut. He received his B.S. in chemical engineering from Lehigh University in 19
Scott Streiner University of Pittsburgh
Scott Streiner is an Assistant Professor in the Industrial Engineering Department, teaches in the First-Year Engineering Program and works in the Engineering Education Research Center (EERC) in the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. Scott has received funding through NSF to conduct research on the impact of game-based learning on the development of first-year students’ ethical reasoning, as well as research on the development of culturally responsive ethics education in global contexts. He is an active member of the Kern Engineering Entrepreneurship Network (KEEN), the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering (IISE), the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and serves on the First-Year Engineering Education (FYEE) Conference Steering Committee.
Abstract
We contend a better way to teach ethics to freshman engineering students would be to address engineering ethics not solely in the abstract of philosophy or moral development, but as situated in the everyday decisions of engineers. Since everyday decisions are not typically a part of university courses, our approach in large lecture classes is to simulate engineering decision-making situations using the role-playing mechanic and narrative structure of a fictional choose-your-own-adventure. Drawing on the contemporary learning theory of situated learning, such playful learning may enable instructors to create assignments that induce students to break free of the typical student mindset of finding the “right” answer.
Mars: An Ethical Expedition! is an interactive, 12 week, narrative game about the colonization of Mars by various engineering specialists. Students take on the role of a head engineer and are presented with situations that require high-stakes decision-making. Various game mechanics induce students to act as they would on-the-fly, within a real engineering project context, using personal reasoning and richly context-dependent justifications, rather than simply right/wrong answers. Each segment of the game is presented in audio and text that ends with a binary decision that determines what will happen next in the story. Historically, this game had been led by an instructor and played weekly, as a whole-class assignment, completed at the beginning of class. The class votes and the majority option is presented next. In addition to the central decision, there are also follow-up questions at the end of each week that provoke deeper analysis of the situation and reflection on the ethical principles involved.
This prototype was initially developed within a learning management system, then supported by the Twine™ game engine, and studied in use in our 2021 NSF EETHICS grant. In 2022-23 the game was redesigned and extended using the Godot™ game engine. In addition to streamlining the gameplay loop and reducing the set-up and data management required by instructors, this redesign supported instructors with an option to allow the game to be student-paced and played by individual students or to keep the instructor-led 12 week whole-class playstyle.
Our proposed driving research question is "In what ways does individual student play differ from whole class instructor-led play with regard to learning that ethical behavior is situated?" In the next phase of our ongoing investigation, we plan to further evaluate the use of playful assessment to estimate its validity and reliability in comparison to current best practices of engineering ethics assessment.
Wagner, T., & Bassett, L., & Pascal, J., & Burkey, D. D., & Streiner, S. (2023, June), The Power of Playful Learning - Ethical Decision-Making in a Narrative-Driven, Fictional, Choose-Your-Own Adventure [Work In Progress] Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--44478
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