Teaching Engineering To K 12 Students Using Role Playing Games

There is a strong need for more well trained technically competent individuals in today's modern society. However, there is insufficient coverage of engineering and technology in our school system and many of our K-12 students do not consider engineering and technology as career options. To rectify this situation, we need to introduce our students to engineering practice, concepts, and ideas as early and as extensively as possible. Unfortunately, these students do not have the background to understand these topics as traditionally presented. We propose the use of role-playing to teach K-12 students ideas from engineering fields such as computer engineering, control engineering and power systems. We review the history and literature of role playing and its application to science education. We explain the benefits of role playing as a teaching paradigm and reasons why we believe it is particularly suited to teaching K-12 students about engineering. We also provide examples of role playing games that we have started to use in our school district and as part of special class for science and mathematics teachers.