More educators use serious games (e.g., games where the primary objective is learning rather than enjoyment) to enhance learning due to benefits such as improved understanding and engagement. However, using serious games within project management education is not well understood. The aim of this research is to investigate project management serious games in higher education: i) determine the extent of gamification in PMI-accredited project management programs, and ii) survey university students about their experiences playing project management serious games. Two separate mixed-method studies reveal insights about serious games in higher education and where innovations may be leveraged. Traditional statistics were used to analyze quantitative data, and coding was used to analyze the qualitative data. The results from a global survey of ten PMI-accredited university programs suggest that serious games are embryonic but promising. A case study at one university reveals that students enjoy learning through games but caution against using games to formally assess students’ learning. The paper concludes with recommendations for further research and development.

中文翻译：

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创新项目管理教育-让我们变得认真起来！

由于诸如增进理解和参与等好处，更多的教育者使用严肃的游戏（例如，主要目标是学习而不是娱乐的游戏）来增强学习。但是，在项目管理教育中使用严肃的游戏还不是很了解。这项研究的目的是调查高等教育中的项目管理严肃游戏：i）确定PMI认可的项目管理计划中的游戏化程度，ii）调查大学生关于玩项目管理严肃游戏的经验。两项单独的混合方法研究揭示了有关高等教育中的严肃游戏以及可以利用创新的见解。传统统计数据用于分析定量数据，编码用于分析定性数据。对十个获得PMI认可的大学课程进行的全球调查结果表明，严肃的游戏是萌芽的，但前景光明。在一所大学的案例研究表明，学生喜欢通过游戏学习，但要注意不要使用游戏来正式评估学生的学习。本文最后提出了进一步研究和开发的建议。