Non-major students’ perception on the application of gamification and simulation in electrical and electronics engineering courses at universities in Malaysia

Abstract

In the field of electrical and electronics (E&E) technology that is evolving rapidly, the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia emphasizes universities to ensure that the expected non-major E&E engineering graduates are fully equipped with the skills to fulfil market needs. However, it is challenging for non-major students to understand the topics taught to them through the methods as they are conventionally being delivered. Therefore, gamification and simulation such as Kahoot, Quizizz, Multisim and CircuitMod have been applied in the university to facilitate formative assessment in order to enhance interest and understanding, and also accomplish learning more effectively among non-major students. Hence, this research aims to examine the non-major students’ perception of the implementation of gamification and simulation in class for face-to-face and online settings. To achieve this, a set of questionnaires was adapted with some modifications for the purpose of data collection. It was distributed to the students from random public universities in Malaysia who are currently enrolled in E&E engineering courses at their respective universities which majority of them are from a mechanical engineering background. Research questions concentrate on the advantages and students’ perceptions of gamification and simulation in E&E engineering courses. The collected data has been analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis. Based on the perceptions of the participating non-major E&E engineering students, the majority of the respondents agreed that gamification and simulation provide a better learning experience with the highest score mean of 4.22. Moreover, gamification and simulation boost students' ability to learn, motivate them, increase their understanding, promote their well-being, and increase their achievement academically. Students hold a positive perception with 4.20 mean score, stating that it is suitable for application in the learning process as it is easy to use, fun, motivating, and more efficient. The results provided would encourage educators in Malaysian universities to better meet the needs of teaching non-major students with their lessons.