Incorporation of modeling, simulation, and game-based learning in engineering dynamics education towards improving vehicle design and driver safety

As educational tools continue to evolve technologically, game-based learning (GBL) has emerged for its ability to improve specific learning outcomes such as motivation, engagement, and knowledge acquisition and retention. Despite recent advances with educators incorporating games and gaming strategies into higher-learning curricula, there is a current void in the literature that clarifies the critical relationship between GBL implementations and learning outcomes. In this effort, we build upon previous research by detailing the specification, design, and deployment of a series of GBL experiential learning interventions intended to improve conceptual understanding of vehicle dynamics. This implementation should result in positive downstream impacts on safety, both for the vehicle (i.e., design/interface)—and its driver. In our intervention, we deploy three separate pilot studies in a graduate engineering vehicle dynamics course, all of which leverage advanced GBL environments deployed on a high-fidelity motion-based driving simulator. The primary goals of the pilot studies are to interactively achieve an enhanced understanding of: (i) oversteer/understeer vehicles at ever-increasing speed; (ii) an optimal cornering strategy subject to the tire conditions of the vehicle; and (iii) lateral handling and yaw stabilization of a vehicle within an extreme evasive maneuver at varying entry speeds. The outcomes of the current effort serve to promote a future Theory of Change for planned best practices to improve human factors and human–vehicle machine interfaces through authentication of GBL in engineering education on a broader scale.