Internet Learning Volume 4, Number 2, Fall 2015 | Page 95

Internet Learning
modeled after the animal kingdom, the
goal was to have an unknown set of NPCs
encouraging the top, bottom and mid-range
players to continue to strive for excellence.
The Treasure Hunter Report featured each
student who participated in the game (all
but one in the hybrid class and all of them
in the online class) and the NPCs, but
without the students realizing that some
of the names were not classmates. This was
important to preserve anonymity and to
encourage players at all levels to strive for
excellence.
Analysis of the Treasure Hunter Case Study
The evaluation of the collected data
focused on studying whether the course
and learning objectives were met and if they
satisfied the program outcomes. The goal
was to strengthen two fast track graduate
classes and foster better team experiences.
As the game centered on the use of
normal class activities using game-based
metaphors, the course assessment method
was a natural choice for evaluating whether
the game constructs met the desired course
outcomes. The Treasure Hunter’s Game
had five goals in addition to the course
objectives:
1. participation early and often in the
course
2. encouraging contributions with
substantive content
3. promoting collaboration and team
communication skills
4. providing traceability for individual
activity on the team project
5. encouraging successful team outcomes
with measurable competencies
Since the number of graded
measurements grew from weekly
assignments to over 25 measurements, the
students were free to work ahead or to spend
more time on desired activities, and in
response, their treasure grew and their game
status rose as they progressed through the
team activities. A set of game titles mapped
to the different reputation levels, giving the
gamers roles and a way of characterizing
and visualizing their accomplishments.
The energy shifted from the perception of
routine course work to their demands for
more opportunities to earn gold and faster
publication of the treasure report.
The goal was to strengthen two
fast track graduate classes and
foster better team experiences.
Case Study Results
The results are separated by each goal
and type of class delivery method,
which featured a hybrid class that
met one day a week in the classroom with
the discussions and activity online, and a
fully online class. The difference between
them featured the ability for the hybrid
class offering of the software requirements
engineering class to hold a face-to-face
team meeting after class while the online
class never met in class. They both had the
class area in the online course management
system for posting team discussions,
assignments and their learning artifacts. See
Table 4 for a comparison of the results for
the hybrid and online class when compared
to prior class offerings.
Goal 1: Increased participation:
The hybrid class featured the
development of a software project
management plan and 88% of the 25-member
class was enthusiastic contributors,
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