Analysis of the Contribution of Active Learning Through Video Game Development within a CDIO Curriculum: An Educational Experience in Electronic Engineering and Agro-Industry

Engineering education faces the demand to combine technical competencies with collaboration, communication and social responsibility, while content-transmission teaching models offer limited room to develop them. This article analyses a curricular experience in which the development of educational video games operated as the integrating axis of a CDIO-oriented curriculum in the Electronic Engineering programme at the University of Quindío. The aim was to examine how video game production, understood as a complete conceive–design–implement–operate project, contributes to the development of technical and transversal competencies among undergraduate students. A design-based research approach articulated with the four CDIO stages was applied between 2020 and 2024 across four undergraduate seminars and one diploma course, involving seventy-two students organised into multidisciplinary teams. Evidence was gathered through participant observation, semi-structured interviews, documentary review of project outputs, CDIO-based rubrics and perception surveys. The resulting products addressed problems in basic education, agro-industry, regional tourism, health and environmental conservation, and were presented to partner institutions. Findings show progress in C# and Unity 3D programming, in project management and in teamwork skills, together with effective engagement with actors outside the classroom. The experience suggests that video game development constitutes a replicable pedagogical vehicle for engineering curricula seeking to integrate active learning, interdisciplinarity and social relevance.

engineering education, CDIO framework, project-based learning, educational video games, transversal competencies.

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