Stop-notion - education concept with gamification to increase gender equality and diversity in technology courses

Purpose and goal

The purpose of the project was to develop an educational concept and to test it in two educational environments. The developed concept includes five steps with the long-term goal of increasing motivation for lifelong learning. The aim was to increase the technical interest of minorities and increasing the collaboration using gamification. The concept was tested in the courses Programming for maintenance technicians (Göteborgs Tekniska College), 3D visualization and prototyping (Halmstad University, HH) and with a control group Leadership (HH).

Expected results and effects

The education concept has five steps: 1) Motivation and resources, 2) Need and context, 3) Real need, 4) Course content and 5) Method package test / implementation. The blocks developed were introduction, maze game, random turn order and digital self-assessment; the needs of the courses were community and to let everyone speak. Other results are a user guide for teachers, a market analysis and a vision for the future (via NOVA method). Dissemination has taken place through parties, reference group, coffee talk at RISE IVF, book fair (interview on stage) and via an article on edig.nu.

Planned approach and implementation

The work has been interdisciplinary and the working group has held working meetings every other week. Needs and end users have been involved through workshops and meetings at GTC and HH. For both courses, an introduction to gamification and the project was given as well as a needs analysis. An in-depth needs analysis was then done and the structure of the course development was performed together with teachers and managers at GTC. Subsequently, the concept was evaluated with a reference group consisting of four people active in industry; in the evaluation step 1 of the concept was added.