Background Many students may not respond strongly to instruction that they do not perceive as engaging. One pedagogical approach to help engage students involves the use of games. Educational games can provide students with a motivating and stimulating environment while providing them with immediate feedback to promote learning.Purpose This systematic review examines research focused on the implementation of games to teach undergraduate engineering students; it summarizes prevailing features and cites examples from a variety of engineering disciplines. Scope/MethodThe systematic review was conducted through a detailed search of Science Direct journals and the Scopus, Web of Science, Compendex/Inspec, and ERIC Education Research Abstract databases using terms pertinent to games in engineering education. A total of 191 papers was included after application of the inclusion/exclusion criteria. After screening those to determine if assessment of student learning outcomes was performed, 62 papers were found suitable for more detailed analysis. ConclusionsResearch on the implementation of games in undergraduate engineering classrooms has shown that, despite diverse forms of assessment applied, there is a general trend that both student learning and attitudes are improved by game-based activities. However, since only a relatively small subset of the literature demonstrates a systematic, validated approach in assessment, significant opportunities remain for future research.Despite many advances in active learning techniques and their dissemination, the predominant method of student instruction remains the transmission model: information is a quantifiable resource, and the instructor's role is to transmit that information to learners, who must store and act upon it (Tishman, Jay, & Perkins, 1993). While the transmission model can be effective when teaching for understanding, it may be less effective in developing skills and providing experiences, such as communication, teamwork, and creativity.Recently, game-based learning has come to the forefront of potential pedagogical methods for educating students and providing them with the motivation and opportunities to practice Journal of Engineering Education V C 2016 ASEE.

Pulsed-plasma chemical vapor deposition was used to deposit thin films from four different organosilicon precursors using water as the oxidant. The precursors varied in structure, chemical composition, and type of organic substituent. Differences in film structure were observed based on precursor structure and type of organic substituents. More reactive substituents, such as vinyl groups, facilitated cross-linking. At low power (200 W), film structure was dictated by precursor identity. At high power (400 W) film structure became more uniform and precursor identity was less important. Mechanical and thermal properties correlated with plasma power and could be explained by the continuous random network theory and percolation of rigidity arguments. Low-power samples are relatively soft, with hardness values between 0.13 and 0.54 GPa. High-power samples are more extensively cross-linked and oxidized, resulting in enhanced mechanical properties, and had hardness values between 0.68 and 3.2 GPa, depending upon precursor identity. Thermal stability was strongly correlated to the degree of cross-linking, with non-cross-linked films showing up to 30% thickness loss upon annealing. Cross-linked films exhibited less than 8% thickness loss. Dielectric constants for the films ranged between 2.4 and 4.3 and were primarily dependent upon the extent of oxidation and organic content remaining in the films. © 2004 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.

Pulsed-plasma chemical vapor deposition of 1,3,5-trimethyl-1,3,5-trivinylcyclotrisiloxane (V3D3) and water produced thin films with significant Si–OH content. Subsequent annealing of the films resulted in condensation of proximal Si–OH groups, further generating a Si–O–Si network and strengthening the film. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis showed increasing OH content with increasing plasma duty cycle, and nanoindentation results confirmed increasing hardness with duty cycle, with the 10–40 duty cycle annealed sample having a hardness value of 0.527 GPa. These results were explained within the context of the continuous random network theory and percolation of rigidity arguments. Thermal stability was excellent, with a best-case thickness retention of 99.25% after a 2 h anneal at 400 °C under N2. Dielectric constants for the annealed films ranged between 2.55 and 2.9. The moderate power involved (200 W peak) is amenable to inclusion of a porogen species, opening the possibility of using this methodology to generate a porous thin film with adequate mechanical properties via chemical vapor deposition.

Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) of poly-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (pHEMA) biocompatible, biodegradable polymer films were produced alone and cross-linked with ethylene glycol diacrylate (EGDA). Degree of cross-linking was controlled via manipulation of the EGDA flow rate, which influenced the amount of swelling and the extent of degradation of the films in an aqueous solution over time. Noncross-linked pHEMA films swelled 10% more than cross-linked films after 24 h of incubation in an aqueous environment. Increasing degree of film cross-linking decreased degradation over time. Thus, PECVD pHEMA films with variable cross-linking properties enable tuning of gel formation and degradation properties, making these films useful in a variety of biologically significant applications.

Plasma polymers are often limited by their susceptibility to spontaneous and photo-oxidation. We show that the unusual photoluminescence (PL) behavior of a plasma polymer of trans-2-butene is correlated with its PL strength. These photoprocesses occur under blue light illumination (l ¼ 405 nm), distinguishing them from traditional ultraviolet degradation of polymers. These photo-active defects are likely formed during the plasma deposition process, and we show that a polymer synthesized using initiated (i)CVD, a non-plasma method, has 1000Â lower PL signal and enhanced photo-stability. Nonplasma methods, such as iCVD, may therefore be a route to overcoming material aging issues that limit the adoption of plasma polymers.