Serious Games, Interaction, and Simulation. 5th International Conference, SGAMES 2015, Novedrate, Italy, September 16-18, 2015, Revised Selected Papers

Research Article

A Virtual City Environment for Engineering Problem Based Learning

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  • @INPROCEEDINGS{10.1007/978-3-319-29060-7_12,
        author={Olivier Heidmann and Carlos Vaz de Carvalho and Hariklia Tsalapatas and Rene Alimisi and Elias Houstis},
        title={A Virtual City Environment for Engineering Problem Based Learning},
        proceedings={Serious Games, Interaction, and Simulation. 5th International Conference, SGAMES 2015, Novedrate, Italy, September 16-18, 2015, Revised Selected Papers},
        proceedings_a={SGAMES},
        year={2016},
        month={3},
        keywords={Engineering Problem-based learning Virtual environment Serious games Communities},
        doi={10.1007/978-3-319-29060-7_12}
    }
    
  • Olivier Heidmann
    Carlos Vaz de Carvalho
    Hariklia Tsalapatas
    Rene Alimisi
    Elias Houstis
    Year: 2016
    A Virtual City Environment for Engineering Problem Based Learning
    SGAMES
    Springer
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-29060-7_12
Olivier Heidmann,*, Carlos Vaz de Carvalho,*, Hariklia Tsalapatas,*, Rene Alimisi,*, Elias Houstis,*
    *Contact email: olivier.heidmann@gmail.com, carlosvazcarvalho@gmail.com, htsalapa@inf.uth.gr, ralimisi@gmail.com, enh@gmail.com

    Abstract

    Secondary education students often struggle with Mathematics and Science, preventing them to follow a successful career in Engineering. At a higher education level, problems still exist, including in their motivation levels. A Problem-Based Learning approach can offer an interesting solution to help circumvent this issue by creating an environment in which the learners themselves seek out information and create strategies to solve the training situation. This present work, named project eCity, aims at creating a Virtual Learning Environment platform in the form of a city building simulator, in which students, often digital native, will feel at ease and encouraged to solve the practical engineering scenarios they will face. The eCity platform targets at the same time students from the secondary education and students from higher education, allowing them to work together in a close relation to solve the presented problems together.