When Is a Construction Educational Serious Game Too Serious? Striking a Balance between Engagement and Learning

Educational simulation games and serious games in various disciplines are being adopted for their ability to engage and educate students. The purpose of this study was to understand the level on enjoyment while playing a construction simulation game, the Virtual Construction Simulator 4. For this study, the researchers were interested in the users' rating of their experience while developing the construction sequence for the three different modules. The game was implemented in a fourth-year construction engineering course, where 34 students participated in the study. The users were given a survey to rate their experience while playing the game at the end of a series of interventions. Based on the results there is evidence to conclude that the students' experience was significantly higher that the neutral level of 3.5. With the presnted results, the researchers have provided supporting evidence of the engaging nature of educational simulation games, as well as invaluable suggestions for future development. Lastly, this paper discusses the difficulty in striking a balance between the engaging "fun" nature of games and their educational "serious" purpose.