Citation: Toader, C.-S.; Brad, I.;
Rujescu, C.I.; Dumitrescu, C.-S.;
Sîrbulescu, E.C.; Orboi, M.D.;
Pas
,
cal˘ au, R.; Zajdel, M.;
Michalcewicz-Kaniowska, M.;
Gavril˘ a, C. Exploring Students’
Opinion towards Integration of
Learning Games in Higher Education
Subjects and Improved Soft Skills—A
Comparative Study in Poland and
Romania. Sustainability 2023, 15, 7969.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su15107969
Academic Editors: Marta Sainz
Gómez, María José Ruiz-Melero and
Rosario Bermejo García
Received: 3 March 2023
Revised: 4 May 2023
Accepted: 11 May 2023
Published: 13 May 2023
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
sustainability
Article
Exploring Students’ Opinion towards Integration of Learning
Games in Higher Education Subjects and Improved Soft
Skills—A Comparative Study in Poland and Romania
Cosmina-Simona Toader
1
, Ioan Brad
1
, Ciprian Ioan Rujescu
1,
* , Carmen-Simona Dumitrescu
1
,
Elena Claudia Sîrbulescu
2
, Manuela Dora Orboi
2
, Raul Pas
,
calău
3
, Malgorzata Zajdel
4
,
Malgorzata Michalcewicz-Kaniowska
4
and Codrut
,
a Gavrilă
5
1
Department of Management and Rural Development, Faculty of Management and Rural Tourism,
University of Life Sciences “King Mihai I” from Timis
,
oara, Calea Aradului No. 119, 300645 Timisoara, Romania
2
Department of Economics and Financing of the Company, Faculty of Management and Rural Tourism,
University of Life Sciences “King Mihai I” from Timis
,
oara, Calea Aradului No. 119,
300645 Timisoara, Romania
3
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Life Sciences “King Mihai I” from Timis
,
oara, Calea Aradului No. 119,
300645 Timisoara, Romania
4
Department of Economics and Marketing, Faculty of Management, Bydgoszcz University of Science and
Technology, Fordo´ nska 430 Street, 85-790 Bydgoszcz, Poland
5
Department of Teacher Training, University of Life Sciences “King Mihai I” from Timis
,
oara, Calea Aradului
No. 119, 300645 Timisoara, Romania
* Correspondence: rujescu@usvt.ro
Abstract: This study aimed to explore and compare Polish and Romanian students’ opinions towards
the integration of learning games in Higher Education subjects and to highlight the improved
soft skills by participating in learning games. This article reports the results of a quantitative
study that was designed to explore and compare the opinions of 103 students from 2 universities
towards the integration of learning games in the Project Management subject. The students ranked
71 items found in the questionnaire in 7 scale questions. The items are presented in the form of
skills that can be developed by participating in educational games and aspects that are important
in Project Management. In the analysis of the data, the T test—two sample test—was used, and
the nonparametric Wilcoxon rank-sum test, using the SAS Studio application to assess whether
the average responses are different between the two groups (α = 0.05). There were significant
differences in the case of some items related to the skills that can be developed by participating in
two educational games (communication, empathy, awareness, problem-solving, work productivity,
and time management), but also items that help students understand the importance of some aspects
related to Project Management after participation in educational games (work productivity, team
dimension, time management, and following request).
Keywords: active learning; educational games; higher education; project management; skills
1. Introduction
Whether we talk about the first industrial revolution—Industry 1.0, when the transition
was made from manual labor to the use of machines driven by the force of steam or water;
the second industrial revolution—Industry 2.0, which took place at the end of the 19th
century and culminated with the emerge of electricity; the third industrial revolution—
Industry 3.0, which began in the second half of the 20th century; and intertwines with the
fourth industrial revolution—Industry 4.0 when with the advent of the Internet, appears
digitization, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, augmented virtual reality, the internet of
all things; or it is about the first stages of Industry 5.0 are highlighted—when people,
organizations, and things are connected through a digital network and the internet of
Sustainability 2023, 15, 7969. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15107969 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability