Gamifcation in web based dynamical simulations-Trial in an undergraduate course in Paper Technology

At Swedish universities future process engineers and process developers are educated in master programs targeting specific branches of the industry, e.g. pulp and paper. Learning the fundamental dynamics of both unit processes and larger process sections encounter in the industry are of high importance for the students. In an effort to further improve this aspect of the education and also highlight the important role of industrial process automation and control, simulations are a suitable tool. In this paper cloud based simulations inspired by the consumer game industry have been tested and evaluated in a master-level course in pulp and paper technology at Luleå University of Technology (LTU). The approach was well received by students and teachers, clearly encouraging students interest and understanding of process dynamics and automatic control. INTRODUCTION The application of process and control system simulations in educations are by no means a new approach. In some programs students build their own simulators from scratch and in others ready-to-use simulators are made available for the students. In this paper the target is set to improve user friendliness and user experience of ready-to-use simulators, i.e. the focus is on using simulations as a tool and complement in education rather than simulator designing. Traditionally these kind of simulators are installed on a set of dedicated student computers to which students are given access at specific time slots. Students are guided through the exercise (simulation) by instructions and questions normally documented on paper, very much like traditional laboratory exercises that many of us are familiar with. The motivation of our work is to improve the pedagogical aspects of using simulators to gain knowledge of process and control system dynamics and how process design is affected by controller design/tuning and vice-versa. Simulations has the potential to further amplify curiosity and learning rate and we believe that gamification is one key enabler for that. Our solution is based on Modelica® models and a cloud based simulation platform called Everysim®. APPROACH In this section fundamental platform requirements are described and our view of gamification is explained. Requirements A number of top-level user requirements where established at the beginning of the project: · Clear definition and presentation of task/exercise and mission. The student should be able to start and run the game without much manual instructions. · Possibility to start, pause and stop the game and vary simulation speed in order to manage real processes with very long time constants · Possibility to run on many different devices, e.g. smart phones, PADs and PCs. · Operating system independent. · 24-7 access to simulations In addition to these user requirements another important requirement in education is that the platform must facilitate interaction between the student and teacher where the minimum requirement is to provide means for the teacher to check student progress and understanding in order to give feed-back. From a teacher perspective, administration must be minimized. Software updates like modifications of the simulation model and management of users may not take much time. For example, adding new students and checking on student progress must be very simple. Gamification In [1] gamification is defined as the application of game design elements in non-game contexts and the authors conclude that gamification is related to adding elements from game industry rather than developing full-fledged games. In the context of our work we have strived to enhance the normal user experience when working with simulators in education by adding gamification, key ingredients that where prioritized in this project are: · Achieve short and long term user feedback in order to encourage strategical thinking (“think around the corner”) and keeping up the interest for the game. · Define a story for the game. The story includes “what to learn” and “stages of learning”. · Possibility to advance to new level when current task is completed to evoke curiosity. · Simple graphics to support understanding, e.g. levels and alarms. · Simple questioner that is integrated in the game and further increases student-teacher interaction.