TEACHING LINEAR SCHEDULING THROUGH GAMIFIED ACTIVE EXPLORATION

Abstract

Previous research convincingly demonstrates that incorporating active and collaborative instructional methods, along with effective strategies to foster student engagement, consistently yields improved learning outcomes. However, conventional educational programs in construction engineering and management are often inflexible, providing limited opportunities for students to actively participate in experiential learning that could contribute to firsthand experience and guide them in finding solutions. This study addresses this gap by developing and empirically evaluating an innovative gamified pedagogical approach aimed at teaching linear scheduling through guided active exploration within a digital gaming environment. The proposed approach and its associated game are grounded in constructivist learning theory. A scenario-based interactive game named Zebel was created using the Unity game engine. Employing a set of pre-and post-assessment tools, the proposed method was implemented and assessed in a graduate-level course on construction planning and scheduling to gather empirical data. The results indicate that the proposed pedagogy effectively guided students, even those without prior knowledge of linear scheduling, in discovering fundamental concepts and systematic solutions for the presented problems.