NSF Award No. 0835990

NSF-funded serious game that helps students know what it might be like to work in a factory as an industrial engineer.

Download and Play

https://github.com/uprm-gaming/virtual-factory/releases

Compiling From Source

Here's one way to download the source code so you can fiddle with it:

1. Download the latest version of jMonkey (http://jmonkeyengine.org)

2. Choose the option to clone a project

3. After forking this github repository, write down its link along with a github username and password.

4. Once cloned, you are missing two files that go directly inside the assets/Models directory of the project. Download them here (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hym1yy77134duqv/WgRwWaktyo)

5. That should be about it! If you have any issues, please contact jose.martinez70@upr.edu

History

Developing a Computer Game for Industrial Engineering

UPRM Gaming - Virtual Factory 2.0 is latest version of a serious game that has been in development in recent years. The research project started in 2009 and has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) since its beginning. Many have been the people, among UPRM faculty members and students, who have collaborated to make this project possible. We invite you to learn more about the game and its purpose by reading the research's basic overview that follows.

Innovations in Engineering Education

Can Gaming Provide Enough Context to Improve Knowledge Integration and Retention in Engineering Freshman?

Need

Visual stimuli and games capture the attention of Generation Y learners. However, this reality has not been formally addressed by U.S. engineering program curricula. Little work has been done to test to what extent serious game, when introduced in the first semester of engineering, provide context to the learning that needs to occur for a freshman persist to graduation; help students incorporate this experience into knowledge acquired in following semesters, and ultimately, improve retention.

Approach

Develop computer-based serious game where students interact with a virtual world to improve a system using Industrial Engineering (IE) techniques. Use the game as a tool to assess how serous games improve retention and motivation of freshman IE students; support learning in context; improve student understanding of core concepts; and improve problem-solving skills in complex unstructured problems.

Benefits

Improve retention and motivation of IE freshman students; support learning in context; improve students understanding of core concepts; improve problem-solving skills in complex unstructured problems; gain an understanding of how engineering students learn concepts and develop skills through educational games.

Website

http://ingenieria.uprm.edu/gaming