Gamification and the use of ”FPS,” or First-person Shooting/*Seeding* Perspective in a Laboratory Course

Sarah Corinne Rowlinson Furtney

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Conference: 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access
Location: Virtual On line
Publication Date: June 22, 2020
Start Date: June 22, 2020
End Date: June 26, 2021
Conference Session: Laboratory Learning in Biomedical Engineering (Works in Progress) - June 24th
Tagged Division: Biomedical Engineering
Page Count: 6
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--34697
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/34697
Download Count: 400

Paper Authors

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Sarah Corinne Rowlinson Furtney University of Florida

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Sarah Rowlinson received the B.S. degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA in 2012, and the Ph.D. degree in bioengineering from Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA in 2017.

She is a Lecturer and the Undergraduate Coordinator in the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering with the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. In her role as Undergraduate Coordinator, she oversees curriculum development, undergraduate advising, programmatic opportunities, and ABET accreditation for the program's 360 students. As a doctoral student, she studied breast tissue engineering and was an Instructor for the Clemson University General Engineering Program. She also participated in the NSF’s Innovation Corps for Learning (I-Corps L) program and was a research mentor through National Science Foundation's Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) and Research Experience and Mentoring (REM).

Dr. Rowlinson is a member of the American Society for Engineering Education, Biomedical Engineering Society, and Society For Biomaterials.

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Abstract

This Work-In-Progress paper describes the use of gamification elements for the Cellular Engineering Laboratory course at the [large, public, R1, land-grant institution]. Gamification has been emerging as a pedagogical tool over the past few years, for its perceived ability to motivate participants into desired courses of action by making mandatory or mundane tasks rewarding in some way. The application of game design elements in non-gaming environments has been considered as a mechanism to increase motivation, engagement, and attainment of course outcomes. Several common game design elements include Points, Badges, Leader Boards, Avatars, Story Lines, Visualizations, Progress Bars, Punishments, Levels, Challenges, Feedback, and Phrases; all with the intended outcome of facilitating the end-user, or student, experience in the classroom.

In this study, we implement the use of the First-Person Shooter (FPS) perspective to deliver technical content. First-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre that relies on a first-person perspective; that is, the player experiences the action through the eyes of the protagonist. The player is able to select tools and perform actions to help them on their quest – all through the eyes of the protagonist. In a biomedical engineering wet-laboratory environment, the most common way to teach technical navigation and aseptic technique in a Biological Safety Cabinet is one-on-one, with the mentor operating in the Biological Safety Cabinet and the mentee sitting next to the mentor or behind the mentor’s shoulder. This traditional teaching approach is sufficient in research laboratory environments with low student throughput, but does not scale to a course of 32 students. We believe the use of first-person shooter, or in the case of cell culture first-person seeding, can be used to improve instructional design and scalability of the course.

Preliminary analysis of student feedback and teaching team (faculty instructor and graduate student TAs) reflections in regard to the traditional teaching approach of aseptic technique indicates the opportunity to use first-person seeding in the classroom. The effectiveness of this methodology will be assessed by a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures. Student activity quality and time to completion will be monitored. Students will also complete the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI) to measure their perception of the classroom environment with the addition of the gamification platform. Qualitative feedback from students will be collected through open ended survey questions to gain a better appreciation for how the gamification feature impacted their course experience. The equipment used with this gamification feature has implications for future studies, including recordings and livestreams to be used in augmented, mixed, and virtual reality. This technology has the potential to be used in online learning, flipped classroom, and outreach – and can address barriers to biomedical engineering involvement including access and affordability.

Citation
Format

Furtney, S. C. R. (2020, June), Gamification and the use of ”FPS,” or First-person Shooting/*Seeding* Perspective in a Laboratory Course Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34697

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This Work-In-Progress paper describes the use of gamification elements for the Cellular Engineering Laboratory course at the [large, public, R1, land-grant institution]. Gamification has been emerging as a pedagogical tool over the past few years, for its perceived ability to motivate participants into desired courses of action by making mandatory or mundane tasks rewarding in some way. The application of game design elements in non-gaming environments has been considered as a mechanism to increase motivation, engagement, and attainment of course outcomes. Several common game design elements include Points, Badges, Leader Boards, Avatars, Story Lines, Visualizations, Progress Bars, Punishments, Levels, Challenges, Feedback, and Phrases; all with the intended outcome of facilitating the end-user, or student, experience in the classroom. 

In this study, we implement the use of the First-Person Shooter (FPS) perspective to deliver technical content.  First-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre that relies on a first-person perspective; that is, the player experiences the action through the eyes of the protagonist. The player is able to select tools and perform actions to help them on their quest – all through the eyes of the protagonist. In a biomedical engineering wet-laboratory environment, the most common way to teach technical navigation and aseptic technique in a Biological Safety Cabinet is one-on-one, with the mentor operating in the Biological Safety Cabinet and the mentee sitting next to the mentor or behind the mentor’s shoulder. This traditional teaching approach is sufficient in research laboratory environments with low student throughput, but does not scale to a course of 32 students. We believe the use of first-person shooter, or in the case of cell culture first-person seeding, can be used to improve instructional design and scalability of the course.

Preliminary analysis of student feedback and teaching team (faculty instructor and graduate student TAs) reflections in regard to the traditional teaching approach of aseptic technique indicates the opportunity to use first-person seeding in the classroom. The effectiveness of this methodology will be assessed by a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures. Student activity quality and time to completion will be monitored. Students will also complete the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI) to measure their perception of the classroom environment with the addition of the gamification platform. Qualitative feedback from students will be collected through open ended survey questions to gain a better appreciation for how the gamification feature impacted their course experience. The equipment used with this gamification feature has implications for future studies, including recordings and livestreams to be used in augmented, mixed, and virtual reality. This technology has the potential to be used in online learning, flipped classroom, and outreach – and can address barriers to biomedical engineering involvement including access and affordability.  

AU  - Sarah Corinne Rowlinson Furtney
CY  - Virtual On line 
DA  - 2020/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Gamification and the use of ”FPS,” or First-person Shooting/*Seeding* Perspective in a Laboratory Course
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/34697
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--34697
ER  -