Pittsburgh Review

Students in Reeja Jayan’s upper-level course, Materials and Their Processing for Mechanical Engineers, are combining homework with video games. Over the past seven years, Jayan has refined a syllabus that uses Minecraft to teach materials science and engineering concepts. This approach allows students to conduct virtual experiments like chemical vapor deposition (CVD) polymerization, observing processes at an atomic level while learning to operate lab equipment.

“Minecraft was selected because it’s a game where people build using blocks, and in materials science we build entire objects using atoms. In the game, the blocks become surrogates for the atoms,” said Jayan, an associate professor of mechanical engineering. “I think this is the very first time such a class existed in higher education — it’s definitely the first engineering course of its kind.”

The use of Minecraft offers several benefits, including convenience and safety. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many aspects of the class continued as planned due to its virtual nature. Typically, theory-based classes like Materials and Their Processing do not have a lab component due to extensive safety training requirements. Virtual labs mitigate these issues by allowing students to practice without physical risk.

Jayan initiated this project in 2016 with resources from the Donald L. and Rhonda Struminger Teaching Fellowship. After receiving the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Award in 2017, she focused on developing virtual lab equipment with help from interns Miguel Brandao and Takumi Natsume.

“The actual tool sits in the basement of Scott Hall in the clean room housed within the Claire and John Bertucci Nanotechnology Laboratory,” explained Jayan about the CVD machine recreated in Minecraft. “It can create layers of atoms into thin films/coatings that you use for electronics and batteries.”

Brandao described how students use this virtual machine: “The machine takes in a monomer gas, an initiator gas and a carrier gas... This causes polymer chains to form.”

CVD is critical for manufacturing microchips for computers and mobile phones. The process has been meticulously recreated in Minecraft so students can observe each step. Even routine lab protocols like putting on bunny suits have been incorporated into the virtual experience.

When conducting polymer deposition experiments with the CVD machine, students know if they’re correct based on color changes—proper coatings turn pink; mistakes result in crumbling.

Despite being new at CMU, there is little learning curve since many students are familiar with video games. Jayan surveys students' comfort levels with Minecraft at semester start to adjust lesson plans accordingly.

After refining her course over several years, Jayan conducted a case study with researchers from CMU's Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation to validate Minecraft as an effective teaching tool.

“We found statistically relevant improvements in student exam scores on topics requiring 3D spatial understanding,” noted Jayan.

Crystal structures, interatomic bonding, diffusion, and property anisotropy translate well into a 3D format within Minecraft modules compared to traditional methods.

Jayan aims to enhance server capacity and technical support for broader university use based on positive results from her study. She hopes other schools at CMU will recognize Minecraft's potential as an educational tool.

“This is still very legitimate, serious coursework that is supplemented by Minecraft—not the other way around.”

In recognition of her innovative teaching approach, Jayan received CMU’s Teaching Innovation Award at their annual Celebration of Education Awards on April 18.

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