2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The Impact of an Educational Game on Manufacturing Knowledge and Metacognitive Problem-Solving Skill Development

Presented at Computers in Education (CoED): Computing Pedagogy & Methods (8 of 8) -- W508

This work explores the impact of a game-based manufacturing simulation on learners’ knowledge and metacognitive problem-solving skills. The game is designed to teach students operations management concepts and to test their application in a simulated experience. Users begin the game as a new employee and complete an orientation to learn relevant manufacturing concepts. Users are then tasked with balancing customer demand and the manufacturing line's capacity while maximizing profit for a hypothetical water bottle-filling company. Participants’ content knowledge and metacognitive problem-solving skills were assessed using pre- and post-assessments.
This study examines the instructional and simulation portions of the design. In addition to examining the impact of the game on users, comparisons were made between users’ knowledge, metacognitive self-regulation skills, self-efficacy, and game-player types based on participants' situational interest. The results of these comparisons inform the development of scaffolding for future iterations of the game. Further, the results support the development of increasingly complex problem scenarios in the game. Broader implications include creating an engaging manufacturing game that can both aid learning and serve as a recruitment tool for potential STEM students.

Authors

Daniell DiFrancesca Pennsylvania State University, Behrend College [biography]

Dr. Daniell DiFrancesca earned her Ph.D. in educational psychology from North Carolina State University in 2015. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at Penn State Behrend. Dr. DiFrancesca's research interests focus on developing self-regulation in learning with a focus on designing and evaluating classroom-based interventions. Additionally, Dr. DiFrancesca has worked as an evaluator for university programs and community initiatives.
Dr. Omar Ashour http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3775-6445 Pennsylvania State University, Behrend College [biography]

Dr. Omar Ashour is a Professor of Industrial Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, The Behrend College. He is the Associate Director for Research in the School of Engineering. Dr. Ashour received the B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering/Manufacturing Engineering and the M.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) in 2005 and 2007, respectively. He received his M.Eng. degree in Industrial Engineering/Human Factors and Ergonomics and a Ph.D. degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from The Pennsylvania State University (PSU) in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Dr. Ashour was the inaugural recipient of William and Wendy Korb Early Career Professorship in Industrial Engineering in 2016. Dr. Ashour’s research areas include data-driven decision-making, modeling and simulation, data analytics, immersive technologies, and process improvement. He contributed to research directed to improve design and engineering education.
Alexandra Michelle Caldwell Pennsylvania State University, Behrend College
Christian Enmanuel Lopez http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2801-4618 Lafayette College [biography]

I am an Assistant Professor of Computer Science with an affiliation in Mechanical Engineering at Lafayette College.

I completed my Ph.D. from the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at the Pennsylvania State Un
Dr. Conrad Tucker Carnegie Mellon University [biography]

Conrad Tucker is a professor of mechanical engineering. He focuses on the design and optimization of systems through the acquisition, integration, and mining of large scale, disparate data.
Aidan John Mathieu

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