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Knowledge Management is a core subject in the bachelor’s program in Information Systems at the Nuremberg Institute of Technology. To enhance learning, a digital escape room was developed and implemented on the Moodle e-learning platform. The project addressed three research questions: Is Moodle a recommendable platform to implement a digital escape room? Are digital escape rooms a reasonable concept to teach knowledge? Are students motivated to gain knowledge with an escape room? A prototype was initially evaluated, revealing improved learning outcomes, particularly among students who enjoy quizzes. However, the quiz-based format of Moodle proved unsuitable for certain topics, and the platform's limited capabilities for game development posed challenges. The original escape room’s duration of two to three hours was considered excessive by students, leading to a revised version with a more manageable length of 90 minutes. Usability testing, employing the think-aloud method, was conducted to refine the design before re-release. A subsequent pilot revealed that 70% of students valued the escape room for knowledge acquisition. While many enjoyed the puzzles, some preferred traditional exam preparation. These findings suggest that digital escape rooms hold promise as innovative pedagogical tools. However, their success depends on careful adaptation to course content and student needs, making them a potential complement to traditional learning methods. The overarching goal of this project is to evaluate the efficacy of digital escape rooms as innovative pedagogical tools and to explore their potential in reshaping conventional learning environments.
Based E-Learning to Increase Motivation of Stem-Students : Gamification of A Startup Enterpriser
(2025)
First semester students often face major challenges in adjusting to university studies. Inexperienced students may not appreciate the practical relevance of abstract, theoretical concepts taught using traditional, instructor-centered lectures. Furthermore, the rise of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) can mislead some to believe they no longer need to exert effort to learn academic skills. To encourage students to engage in learning material and thus improve retention rates, two complementary teaching methods were integrated into a large, introductory course for first semester STEM students: Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and gamification. Problem-Based Learning was implemented to make the subject matter more meaningful by simulating a real-world experience: How to start up a small business. This entrepreneurship task was simulated in an online game, to increase student motivation. Quantitative questionnaires of student motivation and experiences with e-learning were
evaluated. Based on input obtained in expert interviews, a fictitious startup enterprise was designed to serve as the used case. An online e-learning game was developed, which leveraged gamification elements to try to increase motivation. Each phase of the startup process was represented as one level of the e-learning game. The e-learning game was tested by a group of first semester students. Their opinions were collected using an anonymous
online survey. Aggregated results of the survey are discussed and plans for further research are presented.
The necessity for professionals to make predictions using digital data has been recognized for many decades. With its roots in statistical analysis and later implemented as data analytics, Data Science emerged as a widely accepted discipline. The data science life cycle begins by setting a goal and ends with reporting/reflecting on the gained results. It incorporates known analytical techniques, including modern artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques. While often considered an independent discipline, both engineering and liberal arts colleges have recognized the need for an understanding of data science in the general workforce. The literature still suggests a disconnect between the study fields and how the Internet of Things could be leveraged in Project-Based Learning (PBL) style data science education. In this paper, the authors propose a conceptual framework to teach multidisciplinary data science at university level to engineering and liberal arts students using data from real-world Internet of Things (IoT) projects.
Eduscrum is a methodology that applies agile project management principles to the field of education. The Scrum methodology is an established approach in software development, where iterative product development is carried out by a small development team in work cycles. Originally, Scrum was an agile framework that originated in software development but has since been adapted to various industries,
including education. The idea behind Eduscrum is to apply agile project management principles to education, aiming to be more flexible in addressing the needs of learners, fostering collaboration, and enabling continuous feedback. Eduscrum organizes the learning process into sprints, which are time-boxed periods typically lasting one to four weeks. During each sprint, students and teachers work collaboratively to achieve specific learning objectives. Scrum defines roles which are sometimes difficult
to adapt to the educational context. The role of the product owner is often taken on by the teacher, who defines the learning goals and prioritizes the content. The Scrum master moderates the learning process, removes obstacles, and ensures that the Scrum framework is followed effectively. Students take on the role of the development team. Regular meetings, often referred to as "stand-ups" or "Scrum meetings,"are held to discuss progress and challenges. These meetings provide a platform for students and teachers to collaborate, share insights, and identify any impediments. The Scrum process includes artifacts, like a backlog to prioritize tasks and charts which track the progress of the sprints. One of the key principles of Eduscrum is flexibility. It allows for adjustments based on student needs, enabling a dynamic and responsive learning environment. Eduscrum promotes regular feedback loops between students and
teachers, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Collaboration is a central theme in Eduscrum. Students work together on projects, share ideas, and contribute to the overall learning experience. The paper describes how the methodology is used in a master’s level class for computer science. Content of the course subject is social network analysis. The students work together in small groups. They perform together a self-chosen project and write a research paper together. Every process step is accompanied by the professor and an assistant, in accordance with Eduscrum. Each project group gets constant feedback. The students are guided step by step through the whole process. In the course evaluation, the students state their high learning outcomes, but they find that the projects are a lot of work.
The rapid pace of development in generative artificial intelligence (AI) has resulted in the introduction of extremely advanced chatbots, such as ChatGPT, Google Bard and Copilot. These chatbots are capable of simulating human behavior quite successfully, because they have been trained on huge data sets with large language models (LLM). New avenues for application of generative AI-chatbots have arisen not only in industry, science and medicine, but also in education. The consideration of social and ethical consequences of this new technology has not kept pace with the speed of its development. This paper
explores challenges and opportunities which have arisen in higher education with the emergence of generative AI-chatbots. For university students, the temptation to use chatbots to complete their assignments may seem like a good way to save time and effort. The disadvantage is that they may not
learn anything by simply copying answers from a chatbot. Inexperienced students may trust the validity of answers which are incorrect, especially if they do not have prerequisite knowledge to evaluate the output of a chatbot. For educators, however, it can be extremely difficult to determine whether students have completed their assignments themselves, or whether they have submitted the output from a chatbot. Instructors have the responsibility to teach university students to avoid plagiarism by judiciously citing the sources used. Furthermore, competencies taught at the university level should go beyond mere reproduction of facts. The development of analytical capabilities and critical thinking often require hard work to learn from mistakes, so-called “productive failure”. Creative teaching methods, such as gamification, may help to motivate students to engage with learning materials. A number of questions which have arisen from these challenges will be addressed in this paper. (1) Can educators determine whether student submissions are original or were written by a chatbot?; (2) Should students be allowed to use generative AI-chatbots to work on assessments? If so, how?; (3) Can creative teaching methods, such as gamification, motivate students to engage in learning?; (4) What kinds of assessments can help to evaluate whether students have achieved learning goals? Challenges encountered in exploring these
questions when teaching undergraduate university courses will be presented. Opportunities to increase student engagement and design of authentic assessments will be discussed.
First semester students often face major challenges in adjusting to university studies. Inexperienced students may not appreciate the practical relevance of abstract, theoretical concepts taught using traditional, instructor-centered lectures. Furthermore, the rise of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) can mislead some to believe they no longer need to exert effort to learn academic skills. To encourage students to engage in learning material and thus improve retention rates, two complementary teaching methods were integrated into a large, introductory course for first semester STEM students: Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and gamification. Problem-Based Learning was implemented to make the subject matter more meaningful by simulating a real world experience: How to start up a small business. This entrepreneurship task was simulated in an online game, to increase student motivation. Quantitative questionnaires of student motivation and experiences with e-learning were evaluated. Based on input obtained in expert interviews, a fictitious startup enterprise was designed to serve as the used case. An online e-learning game was developed, which leveraged gamification elements to try to increase motivation. Each phase of the startup process was represented as one level of the e-learning game. The e-learning game was tested by a group of first semester students. Their opinions were collected using an anonymous online survey. Aggregated results of the survey are discussed and plans for further research are presented.
Multicultural Observations in a Three-University Global Distributed Software Development Course
(2024)
In our increasingly interconnected world, software engineering students need increased exposure to not only state of the art technology, but to its usage and development in multicultural environments. This paper reports on findings from a global software engineering course taught at three universities in Japan, Germany, and Indonesia. Questionnaire and interview data gathered ex-ante (before) and ex-post (after) the semester about cultural dimensions and UML usage are analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The perceived importance of cultural dimensions was compared to previous two-university classes. Experience reports from instructors are described. Unique dynamics in students’ perception of cultural dimensions could be observed. UML challenges self-reported are consistent with previous research findings. An ex-ante to ex-post comparison supports the implementation of real-world projects taught in PBL-style. These findings together are presented as best practices and lessons learned.