Talk given May 11, 2012 at Enriching Scholarship 2012, University of Michigan. This session will focus on leveraging social media and online gaming to attract more women and other underrepresented groups to engineering professions. The slides contains examples from a Facebook game underdevelopment to illustrate how engineering educators can expose new audiences of potential students to professional engineering skills like leadership, teamwork, and project management.

1. Using Social Media to Teach
Engineering Process
Bruce R. Maxim, Margaret Turton &
Wassim M. Nahle
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2. Background
• We need more young people to consider
studying engineering in college
• Boys interested in games often pursue other
computing activities including programming
• Computer game playing can provide girls with
positive problem-solving experiences that may
result in better computer science grades
• Of course there are some concerns that game
playing can promote aggression and gender
stereotyping
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3. Background
(Madeline Kunin – Huffington Post)
• If more video games were created by women
violence and violence against women in video
games might be reduced
• Computer science is one avenue for women to
enter the game field, yet enrollment seems to be
falling
• Boys are introduced to games by playing them,
when women create games girls may be more
likely to be attracted to games and computer
science
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4. Background
• Problem-based and project-based learning
methods are conducive to acquiring social and
interpersonal skills which are valuable in the
work place
• Project-based learning may also be helpful in
increasing gender diversity in engineering
programs
• Diverse teams which solicit viewpoints from its
members may be able to create products for
broader markets than those that do not
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5. Background
• Females enjoy computing activities that are both
social an collaborative
• Engineering provides many design and creative
elements, often not recognised by people outside of
the field
• 55% of all social gamers in the United States are
female
• While only 6% of all social gamers are under the age
of 21, that is still a substantial number of potential
players (Zynga games have 5M users each month)
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6. Girls and Commercial Games
(Tobi Saulnier 1st Playable Productions)
• Girls like to customize their avatars and do not to
see them destroyed
• Girls like relatable dilemmas in games
• Girls do not like sequels
• Girls are buying games that variations of
traditional real life play
• It is impossible to ignore societal pressure
(nurturance, family, friends)
• Might be good to look at themes present in the
books girls read
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7. Girls’ Literature Themes
(Tobi Saulnier 1st Playable Productions)
• Earning accomplishments
• Overcoming obstacles
• Solving real problems
• Becoming independent
• Friendship dilemmas
• Pesky siblings
• Boys as friends
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8. Serious Games
• Serious games make use of the artistic medium of
games, to deliver a message, teach a lesson, or
provide an experience
• Games (unlike virtual worlds) have stated objectives
and rules for attaining the objectives
• Game mechanics are rules and user actions designed
to produce the gameplay
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9. Immersion
• Immersion in simulated environments can increase
learning speed and retention for some tasks
• Computer games can engage students for hours,
while classroom activities may only hold their
attention for 15 minutes
• Of course some people feel game playing can
become additictive
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10. Game Playing Motivations
• Competition
• Challenge
• Social Interaction (professional skills, social
outcomes)
• Diversion (passing time, relieving boredom)
• Fantasy (escaping reality by immersion)
• Knowledge application (sports)
• Sense of Control (over environment and players)
• Acquiring motor skills (gesture –based game play)
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11. Attitudes
• There has been some research that students attitudes
toward learning can affect their cognitive development
• It is our belief that changing student attitudes towards
the field of engineering is essential to pursuing it as a
career
• Preliminary data collected from high school students
attending CIS events suggest that it may be possible
to improve student attitudes towards considering
computing as a career
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12. Approach
• Our general approach is to have UM-Dearborn
students create an engineering process game
• The goal of the game is to expose a large number of
technologically savvy young adults to this game on
Facebook
• Our vision is to build a community of virtual engineers
who can make and collaborate with friends around
the globe
• Analytics collected during game play may provide us
with insights into what types of engineering activities
that are attractive to young people
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13. Game Concept
• We want people to experience the richness the
engineering profession by participating in a game
experience.
• A major goal of this game is to expose players to the
engineering design process by introducing concepts
such as design, leadership, teamwork, planning, and
management.
• We want to emphasize engineering as a collaborative
profession where practitioners use their creativity to
helping people by designing useful artifacts

14. Game Premise
• Strategy-based Facebook game aimed at young
adults.
• Goal of this game is to expose players to the
engineering design process by introducing concepts
such as design, leadership, teamwork, planning, and
management.
• The task at hand for player is to take the reigns as a
project manager.

15. About the Game
• The primary game audience is students in high school
and the first two years of college
• We are working to make this game a female friendly
game that will be attractive to all students
• We want to expose game players to activities in fields
like Software Engineering and Mechanical
Engineering, but also Math, and Science.

16. Game Features
• Engineering Design Process
• Trading with other Players via Auctions
• Avatar Customization
• Facebook Integration
• Persistent Data
• Team Management
• Time Management
• Budget Management
• Designing, Testing, Managing Projects
• Marketplace to buy parts and services

17. Gameplay Objectives
• Increase player Character’s Level to unlock more
artifact construction projects.
• Build up your colony by completing artifacts.
• Increase your knowledge of STEM content by
completing mathematics and science challenges.
• Develop your personal project management skills
(people, budget, time).

18. Story and Narrative
• Back story
• The player is asked to manage several projects involving
building a rocket ship to travel from Earth to colonize
another planet. Once on the planet several engineering
projects will need to be completed to survive on the
planet.
• Plot Elements
• Guide the player along in the tutorial level. Provide
suggestions on projects and tasks to undertake.
• Game Progression
• Like many Facebook games. Increase your level, finish
tasks, complete projects, etc.

19. Characters
• Player Avatars
• Unique to each player (multiplayer game play possible)
• Non-Player Characters
• AI players to allow one person play
• Teacher
• Guides you through the tutorial level and introduces
features added to new levels

20. Player Role
• Player serves as a project manager during the tutorial
level and leads a team to test and repair a rocket.
• Once the rocket is completed players set off to their
new colony to lead teams and manage projects that
produce a successful colony.
• Players can focus on their own colonies or try and
help other player’s with their colonies by selling,
trading, or working for/with them.

21. Game Mechanics
• Genre: Strategy Social Network Game
• simulation, educational, role play game
• Movement
• Point and click.
• Path adjusted at time of click using A* algorithm.
• Automatic collision avoidance.
• Economy
• Player will have a base income per day.
• Different artifacts will increase money in different ways.
• Player can supplement income by selling items and by working on
other players projects.
• Ideally project completion will be more important to students than
dollars earned (affects reputation, experience, leadership, etc.)

22. Development Tools

23. User Interface Elements
• Graphical User Interface
• Player Information
• Chat System
• Join / leave text-based chat
• Private messaging
• View Inventory
• View Market
• View Projects
• Tutorial Training Level
• Adaptive Help System

24. Game Architecture
• The game is extensible in nature with the idea that
other features and levels can be added at a later time.
• The game will be created for and playable on
Facebook.
• The primary language used to create this game will
be Actionscript 3.0 utilizing the Flixel Engine.
• Playerio will handle much of the interaction between
players and any persistent data needed to be saved.

25. Screen Flow

26. Game Subsystems
• Avatar Creation – name, gender, ethnicity,
clothing, job family
• Project Management – the main user screen
allows players to select and manage projects
• Team Management – team members hired based
on skill set, cost, availability
• Communication – allows players to hire or fire
team members, as well as barter for goods
• Marketplace – interfaces with player inventory,
items or NPC’s can be purchased
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27. Starting the Game
Create an avatar of either
gender. You can set the
characters appearance and job
family.

28. Welcome Team Member

29. Rocket
All major components need to be to tested, repaired, and
assembled to launch your working rocket.

30. Project Underway

31. Project Management Screen
View current projects
Switch between active projects
Create new project
Manage current team

32. Completing Any Project
Hire a team of engineers
Salvage , trade, or buy the components

33. Project Selection

34. Staff Selection

35. Hiring Staff
Create skilled (and affordable) staff based upon their
availability, training, and level of experience (determines
salary)
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36. Team Complete

37. Inventory Screen
View / manage items

38. Parts Required

39. Marketplace Screen
Purchase / trade items

40. Parts Marketplace

41. Artifact Finished

42. Component Assembled

43. Assembling Artifact

44. Completed Artifact Testing
When all four components are built and ready
to go to the next phase testing

45. Troubleshooting

46. Rework or Salvage on Failure

47. Successful Test

48. Completed Projects

49. Current Status
• We have created a first playable game prototype
• The game has tutorial construction task, two
artifact construction tasks, and two mini games
to allow skill upgrades
• The game is undergoing internal testing on
Facebook
• We are planning to begin the next iteration
January 2013
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50. Next Steps
• Create math and science content modules
• Richer set of artifacts to address need for
broader gender appeal
• Make the AI characters active participants in the
project builds
• Make actions of online friends visible in the
game environment
• Make use of younger guide, perhaps keyed to
the gender of the player avatar or allow choice of
guide from list
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51. Next Steps
• Create project authoring system to allow addition
of focused sequences of engineering products
by non-programmers
• Switch to Unity 3D or as a game engine and look
at tablet delivery options
• Use Facebook (or another social media product)
to promote the game and develop the
community
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52. Contact Information
• Email:
bmaxim@umich.edu or Mturton@Holmes.edu.au or
wnahle@umd.umich.edu
• Web Site:
http://gamelab.cis.umd.umich.edu
• Software Developers:
Elizabeth Beddow, Devon Modlin, Eric Tucker, Ben Catt
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