Board-Game-Based Gamification Improves Engagement in Petroleum Refining Engineering Course

Final-semester Petroleum Refining Engineering courses in the Oil and Gas Engineering program require sustained motivation to integrate complex and interdependent topics. This study investigates whether incorporating well-designed gamification can mitigate the course’s primary challenge by enhancing student engagement and interest, while facilitating their understanding and retention of key concepts. During the gamified sessions, a domain-specific board game for petroleum refining was utilized to enable team navigation through the session for two groups of a total of 52 final semester students. Outcomes were measured using exit surveys that employed a Likert scale. The outcomes showed uniformly positive perceptions across learning, organization, teamwork, instructor support, and coverage, with top-two (4–5) ratings of ~92–100% for Q1–Q11; workload was judged manageable (Q14 top-two = 88.5%), while difficulty displayed a wider spread (Q13), indicating productive challenge. These findings suggest that gamification is most effective as a motivational, application-oriented complement rather than a replacement for direct instruction. We recommend a blended approach: concise, well-scaffolded lectures to establish fundamentals, followed by targeted game-based activities to let students practice making decisions across the whole refinery process. Future work should pair satisfaction data with direct learning measures to tune game mechanics to challenging mechanisms and maximize learning gains.

Gamification; STEAM; Board Game; Blended Learning

1. Bracho, G., Martí-Aldaraví, P., García-Tíscar, J., & Gomez-Soriano, J. (2022). On the use of gamification tools for blended learning approaches in Thermodynamics courses. 1–8. https://doi.org/10.4995/inn2021.2021.13370 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Cafagna, R., Stamoglou, F. E. M., Falcão, M. V. F. N., Souza, A. L. B., Calixto, E. E. S., & Pessoa, F. L. P. (2019). GameQ: Software for teaching in chemical engineering. Chemical Engineering Transactions, 74(May), 1273–1278. https://doi.org/10.3303/CET1974213 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Jun, M., & Lucas, T. (2025). Gamification elements and their impacts on education: A review. Multidisciplinary Reviews, 8(5), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.31893/multirev.2025155 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Riquelme, A., de Prado, J., Bonache, M. V., Rams, J., Sánchez, M., Torres, B., Rodriguez, M. D. E., Rodrigo, P., & Muñoz, B. K. (2024). Table Games as a Tool to Learn about Material Science in Engineering and Architecture Studies. Education Sciences, 14(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14101054 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Suárez-López, M. J., Blanco-Marigorta, A. M., & Gutiérrez-Trashorras, A. J. (2023). Gamification in thermal engineering: Does it encourage motivation and learning? Education for Chemical Engineers, 45(March), 41–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ece.2023.07.006 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Assessment of the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Repositioning TVET for Economic Development in Nigeria
• Teachers’ Use of Assure Model Instructional Design on Learners’ Problem Solving Efficacy in Secondary Schools in Bungoma County, Kenya
• “E-Booksan Ang Kaalaman”: Development, Validation, and Utilization of Electronic Book in Academic Performance of Grade 9 Students in Social Studies
• Analyzing EFL University Students’ Academic Speaking Skills Through Self-Recorded Video Presentation
• Major Findings of The Study on Total Quality Management in Teachers’ Education Institutions (TEIs) In Assam – An Evaluative Study