Demonstrating the Elusive Outcomes of Decision-Making, Information-Seeking, and Adaptability: A Market Simulation Game for Engineering Students

Autor/inn/en	Morelock, John R.; Salado, Alejandro; Lakeh, Arash Baghaei; Richards, Trevor K.
Titel	Demonstrating the Elusive Outcomes of Decision-Making, Information-Seeking, and Adaptability: A Market Simulation Game for Engineering Students
Quelle	In: Advances in Engineering Education, (2021), (32 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1941-1766
Schlagwörter	Engineering Education; Teaching Methods; Educational Games; Simulation; Decision Making; Problem Solving; Undergraduate Students; Comparative Analysis; Information Seeking; Industrial Arts; Telecommunications; Handheld Devices; Role Playing; Outcomes of Education; Ethics; Course Descriptions; Virginia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ingenieurausbildung; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Educational game; Lernspiel; Simulation program; Simulationsprogramm; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Problemlösen; Informationserschließung; Industriekultur; Kunstgewerbe; Telekommunikationstechnik; Rollenspiel; Lernleistung; Schulerfolg; Ethik; Kursstrukturplan
Abstract	In undergraduate engineering education, students are often overexposed to problem-solving methods that are unrepresentative of how engineers solve problems in practice. For decision-making problems, in particular, students are commonly taught to compare alternative solutions using known and provided information. However, many real-world decision-making problems require a broader range of problem-solving strategies, including information seeking, extrapolation of a decision's consequences, and compromise between parties with competing objectives. To advance engineering educators' capacity to address this need, we developed a simulation game activity designed to offer industrial engineering seniors experience in solving realistic decision-making problems. The simulation game involved students working in teams that role-played as different types of companies in a global smartphone market, where teams needed to negotiate with one another to establish profitable contracts within the game's ruleset. Using a qualitative assessment instrument we developed through prior research, we evaluated how well success in the game aligned with learning outcome achievement in constrained decision-making, information-seeking, and adaptability. Though the game has opportunities for improvement, student success in the game was aligned with excellence in constrained decision-making, and occasionally aligned with excellence in adaptability, and effort to seek information that could guide team decisions. Additionally, student actions during the game have potential to initiate student discourse on the role of engineering ethics in managerial decision-making, which may be of interest to many engineering programs. Finally, we comment on how our new assessment instrument affected student learning and related implications for assessment in engineering education more broadly. Our market simulation game was an effective instructional tool to allow students to demonstrate our intended learning outcomes, and other instructors with similar intended outcomes may find it a valuable tool for their courses as well. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Society for Engineering Education. 1818 N Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 412-624-6815; Fax: 412-624-1108; Web site: http://advances.asee.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2022/1/01