(30a) An Immersive Computer Game to Support ChE Learning

A virtual chemical factory, "Zink & Co.", is implemented as an online Flash computer game. Second- and fourth year's students register while they are taking Reaction Engineering I and II classes. In that factory, they have to solve problems with the newly acquired information (second year, non-graded activity) or design new, challenging problems (fourth year, graded activity). Reportedly, the interactivity and the link to industrially relevant settings are beneficial for the learning. It is noteworthy that the game was mainly created by students themselves, including nonsense details and gimmicks, giving it much more the student flavor than instructor-created games. This is confirmed by the students playing the game. It is well received, even if it cannot compete with professional computer games as far as graphics or dynamics are concerned.

At the workshop, the game will run on a computer so it can be experienced hands-on. In a handout, the creation and implementation of the game will be outlined. A focus will be the obstacles along the way, and how they were overcome.