2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The integration of gamification into higher education has emerged as a promising pedagogical strategy to enhance student engagement, motivation, and knowledge retention. Rooted in the fundamental principles of game design—such as immediate feedback, points, and friendly competition—gamification aims to make learning more dynamic and interactive. Within engineering education, where mastering complex, abstract concepts is paramount, these techniques offer a potential pathway to mitigate low engagement and improve conceptual understanding. While the broader benefits of gamification are well-documented in educational literature, its specific, measurable impact on student performance in foundational electrical and computer engineering courses warrants further investigation.
This study employs a comparative research design to evaluate the effect of a specific gamification tool, Nearpod's "Time to Climb" quizzes, on student learning outcomes. Two electrical and computer engineering courses will be studied. Namely, Linear Circuits and Systems (sophomore level), and Introduction to Machine learning (senior/junior level). The experimental sections are offered in Fall 2025 and will incorporate "Time to Climb" activities as a regular component of selected lectures to reinforce key topics in circuit analysis and machine learning theory. The control sections were offered in Spring 2025 and cover the identical curriculum, but using traditional lecture-based review methods without the gamified elements. The primary data streams will include: (1) a quantitative analysis of student performance on standardized exams and concept-specific quiz questions, comparing the two groups, and (2) a qualitative assessment of student perception gathered via anonymized surveys gauging their engagement, enjoyment, and self-reported confidence with the material.
The full manuscript will report on the comparative analysis of assessment scores to determine if a statistically significant performance improvement is associated with the gamified sections. Furthermore, it will present a thematic analysis of student feedback, capturing their perception of how gamification influenced their learning experience. This study aims to provide educators with empirical evidence and a practical framework for implementing low-stakes, high-impact gamification strategies to foster deeper learning in demanding engineering curricula.