Multiagent Route Choice Game for Transportation Engineering

In undergraduate transportation engineering courses, traffic assignment is a difficult concept for instructors to teach and for students to learn because the concept involves advanced mathematical modeling and computations. A multiplayer game, called multiagent route choice, is designed to engage students in making route choices so that they can visualize how traffic gradually reaches a user equilibrium. In addition, the Braess paradox phenomenon, a concept not generally taught in undergraduate transportation courses, is embedded in the game for students to explore. A before-and-after comparison and a case–control study are performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the game as a curriculum tool. The impact of students' learning preferences is also investigated.

[1]  David M Levinson,et al.  To Game or Not to Game: Teaching Transportation Planning with Board Games , 2012 .

[2]  Fred L. Mannering,et al.  Principles of Highway Engineering and Traffic Analysis , 1990 .

[3]  Chen-Fu Liao,et al.  Engaging Undergraduate Students in Transportation Studies through Simulating Transportation for Realistic Engineering Education and Training (STREET). , 2008 .

[4]  M. E. Gredler,et al.  EDUCATIONAL GAMES AND SIMULATIONS : A TECHNOLOGY IN SEARCH OF A ( RESEARCH ) PARADIGM , 2002 .

[5]  Shanjiang Zhu,et al.  Enhancing Transportation Education Through On-Line Simulation Using an Agent-Based Demand and Assignment Model , 2007 .

[6]  Kerstin Schneider,et al.  Against all Odds: Nash Equilibria in a Road Pricing Experiment , 2004 .

[7]  Dietrich Braess,et al.  Über ein Paradoxon aus der Verkehrsplanung , 1968, Unternehmensforschung.

[8]  Amnon Rapoport,et al.  Choice of Routes in Congested Traffic Networks: Experimental Tests of the Braess Paradox , 2005, Games Econ. Behav..

[9]  Julio Gálvez,et al.  Introduction of Innovations into the Traditional Teaching of Construction and Building Materials , 2011 .

[10]  P. Cochat,et al.  Et al , 2008, Archives de pediatrie : organe officiel de la Societe francaise de pediatrie.

[11]  Martin Ebner,et al.  Successful implementation of user-centered game based learning in higher education: An example from civil engineering , 2007, Comput. Educ..

[12]  Sebastian Kube,et al.  Experimental Investigation of Day-to-Day Route-Choice Behaviour and Network Simulations of Autobahn Traffic in North Rhine-Westphalia , 2004 .

[13]  Tim Roughgarden,et al.  Selfish routing and the price of anarchy , 2005 .

[14]  Chen-Fu Liao,et al.  Simulating Transportation for Realistic Engineering Education and Training , 2009 .

[15]  Forrest Shull,et al.  To Game or Not to Game? , 2009, IEEE Software.

[16]  Hani S. Mahmassani,et al.  EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF ROUTE AND DEPARTURE TIME CHOICE DYNAMICS OF URBAN COMMUTERS , 1988 .

[17]  Julie E. Mills,et al.  Engineering Education, Is Problem-Based or Project-Based Learning the Answer , 2003 .

[18]  D. Kolb.  Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development , 1983 .

[19]  Hani S. Mahmassani,et al.  DYNAMICS OF COMMUTING DECISION BEHAVIOR UNDER ADVANCED TRAVELER INFORMATION SYSTEMS , 1999 .

[20]  David M Levinson,et al.  Effectiveness of Learning Transportation Network Growth through Simulation , 2006 .