Out of the Box: Using Gamification Cards to Teach Ideation to Engineering Students Christos Sintoris 1(B ) , Irene Mavrommati 2 , Nikolaos Avouris 1 , and Ioannis Chatzigiannakis 3 1 University of Patras, Patras, Greece {sintoris,avouris}@upatras.gr 2 CTI - Computer Technology Institute and Press, and Hellenic Open University, Patras, Greece mavrommati@eap.gr 3 Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy ichatz@diag.uniroma1.it Abstract. This paper reports on innovative teaching interventions in the frame of Internet of Things (IoT) design ideation classes. A card- based gamification approach has been applied in two different engi- neering masters courses. The participating students had already a good understanding of IoT technologies and they were asked to produce inno- vative designs by using them. We examine here the produced design ideas and the students’ perception of the collaborative design process and tools. The paper discusses broader issues relating to applicability of design- and ideation-focused gamification methods in the context of engi- neering education and the effect they have on collaborative design and innovation. Keywords: Internet of Things · Ideation method · Card-based design 1 Introduction The general goal of engineering courses in Internet of Things (IoT) is to estab- lish a clear view of the technological landscape of the Internet of Things. The range of technologies that students need to understand, from low-power embed- ded devices, low-power and long-range wireless networking, up to cloud envi- ronments, is vast. Engineering education should address the need for skills such as flexibility and ability to work in a broader multi-disciplinary perspective, which are recognized as key skills for the 4th industrial revolution [3]. Towards addressing this need, the University of Patras and the Sapienza University of Rome introduced design methods for ideation in different IoT classes, as part of course workshops. The aim was to investigate what engineering students gain from such design methods, and assess the weaknesses and strong points of such interventions in teaching design ideation. The workshops produced some inter- esting findings in terms of the applicability and usefulness of such methods, c  Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018 A. Kameas and K. Stathis (Eds.): AmI 2018, LNCS 11249, pp. 221–226, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03062-9_17