CBE Seminar (Zoom): Level Up! Gamification in Chemical Engineering Education

Use this registration link to attend seminar by Joshua A. Enszer: https://forms.gle/uAtUrjrBA2UQyRV39

Abstract: While game-based learning is trending as an upcoming adoptable technology in higher education, there are a number of low- to no-tech ways to incorporate ideas that make games appealing into education: concrete goals, the ability to problem solve and collaborate with others, and the possibility of achieving spectacular successes. These ideas sound familiar, don’t they? A number of educators and game designers have discussed some of these connections, leading to the growth of what we now call gamification – the embedding of some game-based elements in non-game environments. With an entire generation now having been raised in an environment where complex video games have been present, analogies to such games may be a worthwhile effort in engaging students of any discipline. I will review what studies have been done in game-based and gamified education specific to engineering in the past several years, and more practically, describe a small collection of connections and actions that can be made in course design and course management software to provide mechanisms that may motivate our current generation of students in new ways.

Bio: Joshua Enszer is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware. He earned his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Michigan Technological University and his master's degree and doctorate from the University of Notre Dame. His research focuses on undergraduate chemical engineering education, including the gamification of learning, writing to learn and rubric design for efficient assessment. He is co-author of several of the new generation of AiChE Academy courses related to chemical process safety.

Host: Assistant Professor of Teaching Daniel Knight