Immersive Paths for Digital Product Engineering: Evaluation of a Game-Based Virtual Gearbox Workshops in Mechanical Design Education

Product engineering, product design and innovation management in the 21st century are going through a transformative phase towards the digital sphere, in which processes, methods and tools are increasingly anchored in the metaverse. The knowledge and effective use of immersive tools in engineering and design and the clear understanding of the possibilities and challenges of immersive product engineering are key aspects that have to be taken into account in the education of future product developers and designers. This paper delves into the significance of immersive tools in engineering and the educational challenges posed by digital product engineering. It specifically investigates a virtual gearbox workshop with elements of game-based learning, comparing it with a traditional physical workshop for mechanical engineering students. Through open participant observation and quantitative standardized assessment tools, like the NASA Task Load Index survey, the study evaluates the effectiveness of the virtual workshop and game-based learning in imparting technical, methodological, social, digital, and problem-solving skills. The analysis explores the suitability of virtual workshops as an introduction to new academic subjects in mechanical engineering, their compatibility with traditional methods, and potential benefits of incorporating gamification in the learning process. ... mehrParticipant observation shows that, with the exception of creativity competence, the majority of the competencies and skills taught in the physical workshop are also reflected and promoted in the virtual workshop. Furthermore, technical optimization possibilities and the limits of a virtual teaching and learning arrangement are also revealed. The evaluation of the NASA-TLX shows no significant differences in workload between the test groups that completed both virtual and physical workshop and the control group that only completed the virtual workshop. The virtual workshop and the physical workshop are comparable and both formats are pedagogically compatible due to the similar workload and the virtual workshop can be seen as a complementary offer. This research sheds light on the transformative potential of immersive and digital teaching methods while acknowledging their inherent limitations.