Using Online Games in Textile Engineering Education

Abstract

Recent technological advancements have a fundamental potential to transform 21st century textile engineering [1]. Thus, it is essential to further incorporate innovations in industry. In textile engineering education alike, innovative teaching methods, for instance, learning through virtual reality [2], learning by making [3], and game-based learning [4] are apt, and in fact, required methods to teach these subjects for Industry 4.0 in a more understandable and holistic way. Specifically, game-based learning is seen as beneficial in textile engineering education in the part of knowledge acquisition, student engagement and independent learning [4]. This paper presents a pilot study about how online textile games (‘ChoiCo’-Choices with Consequences) co-created with industry partners in the scope of an Erasmus+ KA2 project (T-CREPE), have been incorporated into a design engineering course in a university in Belgium. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the impact of using digital games in textile engineering education and students’ gains from this approach. Ten (n = 10) textile engineering students participated in questionnaires providing quantitative and qualitative data about the games. Also, reflection reports written by students for each game provided personal insights. The results have shown that games can be useful in textile engineering education by improving students’ 21st century skills (e.g., critical thinking, problem solving, self-learning).