Metacognitive Learning: Skills Development Through Gamification at the Stellenbosch Learning Factory as a Case Study

Abstract

South Africa has a high-cost, low-performance education system, which ultimately leads to unemployment and a skill shortage in the country. In order to bridge the skill shortage gap at a tertiary level, the Stellenbosch Learning Factory (SLF) was established. Learning factories involve experiential learning in a production environment through 'learning by doing'. Gamification, one of the teaching methods used in the SLF, is investigated as a possible answer to South Africa's educational problems. Learning factories can be used to train employees: the knowledge transfer resulting from real production conditions is favoured because process improvements can be implemented or practised without any real production downtime. The aim of this study was to determine the learning contribution of the games implemented at the SLF. This was accomplished by developing a three-dimensional matrix that employs a revised version of Bloom's taxonomy to measure the learning success of the educational games at the SLF. OPSOMMINGSuid-Afrika het 'n hoë koste, lae uitkoms onderwysstelsel, wat bydra tot die werkloosheid en die tekort in vaardigheid in die land. Om die vaardigheidsgaping op 'n tersiêre vlak te oorbrug, is die 'Stellenbosch Learning Factory' (SLF) gestig. Leer fabrieke behels eksperimentele onderrig in 'n produksie omgewing deur gebruik te maak van 'n 'leer deur doen' benadering. 'Gamification', een van die onderrigmetodes wat gebruik word in die SLF, word ondersoek as 'n moontlike verbetering op die onderrig probleem in Suid-Afrika. Leer fabrieke kan gebruik word om werknemers op te lei, omdat die kennisoordrag wat ontstaan vanuit die werklike produksietoestande bevoordeel word, aangesien prosesverbeteringe implementeer en beoefen kan word sonder onderbreking van produksie. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die leerbydrae van die opvoedkundige speletjies wat geïmplementeer is by die SLF te bepaal. Dit is bereik deur die ontwikkeling van 'n drie-dimensionele matriks wat die hersiende weergawe van Bloom se taksonomie gebruik om die leersukses van die opvoedkundige speletjies by die SLF te bepaal.

Advantages of Learning Factories for Production Planning Based on Shop Floor Simulation: A Step towards Smart Factories in Industry 4.0

“…Otherwise, virtual LF provide visual software tools trough Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR) technology [20] to improve Digital LFs. Some LFs have implemented virtual games to evaluate students learning after training [21]. With these technologies, it is possible to carry out digital simulation, simulate tasks or evaluate alternative designs before production start [22].…”

The Influence of Gamification Activities on Learning Outcomes in Higher Education

“…A part of the research intended to define the effectiveness of gamification in the educational process is survey based, in which learners were asked to give their assessment of the method. According to the results of these surveys, many students prefer gamification to traditional methods such as lectures (Henning et al 2017). Students assessed positively an educational system which uses game elements.…”

Gamification and academic ability impact on students' meta-cognition and critical thinking skills

“…Previous research shows that the majority of students prefer the Gamification approach to conventional lecture methods (Henning et al, 2017). It was also found that gamification can support improving metacognitive skills (Tang & Kay, 2014).…”