The Sustainable Supplier: A Gamified Approach to Embedding Complex Sustainability Pressures in Engineering Education

Ahmet Onur Agca; Reem Hadeed; Tamer Panagiotis Doss

doi:10.1109/EDUCON67543.2026.11574091

The Sustainable Supplier: A Gamified Approach to Embedding Complex Sustainability Pressures in Engineering Education

Ahmet Onur Agca^*
, Reem Hadeed
, Tamer Panagiotis Doss

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference output › Conference publication

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Abstract

This paper addresses the pedagogical challenge of teaching engineering and management students the complex interplay of economic, social, and institutional pressures that govern sustainability in global supply chains. It introduces a novel, theory-driven gamified behavioural experiment designed to provide an immersive, experiential learning environment for this purpose. The game's design is grounded in Game Theory and Institutional Theory, which provide a robust framework for simulating the realistic decision-making dilemmas faced by apparel industry suppliers. The experiment was implemented in two pilot studies with postgraduate students, yielding preliminary data on student decision-making under varied systemic conditions. The key pedagogical finding is that student behaviour shifts predictably in response to changes in the simulated institutional environment, demonstrating the game's efficacy in making abstract theoretical concepts tangible. This paper details the pedagogical design, theoretical foundation, and preliminary application of the game, positioning it as an effective tool for developing systems thinking and ethical reasoning competencies related to sustainability in engineering education.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2026 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)
Publisher	IEEE
Number of pages	5
ISBN (Electronic)	9798331576714
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON67543.2026.11574091
Publication status	Published - 29 Jun 2026
Event	7th IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON 2026 - Cairo, Egypt Duration: 27 Apr 2026 → 30 Apr 2026

Publication series

Name	IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON
ISSN (Print)	2165-9559
ISSN (Electronic)	2165-9567

Conference

Conference	7th IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON 2026
Country/Territory	Egypt
City	Cairo
Period	27/04/26 → 30/04/26

Bibliographical note

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published in:
A. O. Agca, R. Hadeed and T. P. Doss, "The Sustainable Supplier: A Gamified Approach to Embedding Complex Sustainability Pressures in Engineering Education," 2026 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), Cairo, Egypt, 2026, pp. 1-5, doi: 10.1109/EDUCON67543.2026.11574091
For the purposes of open access the author/s has/ve applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) version arising from this submission.

Keywords

experiential learning
gamification
institutional theory
supply chain management
sustainability

Access to Document

10.1109/EDUCON67543.2026.11574091

The Sustainable Supplier_AAM
This is an accepted manuscript of an article published in: A. O. Agca, R. Hadeed and T. P. Doss, "The Sustainable Supplier: A Gamified Approach to Embedding Complex Sustainability Pressures in Engineering Education," 2026 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), Cairo, Egypt, 2026, pp. 1-5, doi: 10.1109/EDUCON67543.2026.11574091 For the purposes of open access the author/s has/ve applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) version arising from this submission.
Accepted author manuscript, 76.3 KBLicence: CC BY 4.0

Cite this

@inproceedings{7f5307a3f6c84ba9a12b89c5c1a07c94,

title = "The Sustainable Supplier: A Gamified Approach to Embedding Complex Sustainability Pressures in Engineering Education",

abstract = "This paper addresses the pedagogical challenge of teaching engineering and management students the complex interplay of economic, social, and institutional pressures that govern sustainability in global supply chains. It introduces a novel, theory-driven gamified behavioural experiment designed to provide an immersive, experiential learning environment for this purpose. The game's design is grounded in Game Theory and Institutional Theory, which provide a robust framework for simulating the realistic decision-making dilemmas faced by apparel industry suppliers. The experiment was implemented in two pilot studies with postgraduate students, yielding preliminary data on student decision-making under varied systemic conditions. The key pedagogical finding is that student behaviour shifts predictably in response to changes in the simulated institutional environment, demonstrating the game's efficacy in making abstract theoretical concepts tangible. This paper details the pedagogical design, theoretical foundation, and preliminary application of the game, positioning it as an effective tool for developing systems thinking and ethical reasoning competencies related to sustainability in engineering education.",

keywords = "experiential learning, gamification, institutional theory, supply chain management, sustainability",

author = "Agca, \{Ahmet Onur\} and Reem Hadeed and Doss, \{Tamer Panagiotis\}",

note = "This is an accepted manuscript of an article published in: A. O. Agca, R. Hadeed and T. P. Doss, {"}The Sustainable Supplier: A Gamified Approach to Embedding Complex Sustainability Pressures in Engineering Education,{"} 2026 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), Cairo, Egypt, 2026, pp. 1-5, doi: 10.1109/EDUCON67543.2026.11574091 For the purposes of open access the author/s has/ve applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) version arising from this submission. ; 7th IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON 2026 ; Conference date: 27-04-2026 Through 30-04-2026",

year = "2026",

month = jun,

day = "29",

doi = "10.1109/EDUCON67543.2026.11574091",

language = "English",

series = "IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON",

publisher = "IEEE",

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address = "United States",

}

Agca, AO , Hadeed, R & Doss, TP 2026, The Sustainable Supplier: A Gamified Approach to Embedding Complex Sustainability Pressures in Engineering Education. in 2026 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON). IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON, IEEE, 7th IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON 2026, Cairo, Egypt, 27/04/26. https://doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON67543.2026.11574091

The Sustainable Supplier: A Gamified Approach to Embedding Complex Sustainability Pressures in Engineering Education. / Agca, Ahmet Onur ; Hadeed, Reem ; Doss, Tamer Panagiotis.
2026 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON). IEEE, 2026. (IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference output › Conference publication

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T1 - The Sustainable Supplier: A Gamified Approach to Embedding Complex Sustainability Pressures in Engineering Education

AU - Agca, Ahmet Onur

AU - Hadeed, Reem

AU - Doss, Tamer Panagiotis

N1 - This is an accepted manuscript of an article published in: A. O. Agca, R. Hadeed and T. P. Doss, "The Sustainable Supplier: A Gamified Approach to Embedding Complex Sustainability Pressures in Engineering Education," 2026 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), Cairo, Egypt, 2026, pp. 1-5, doi: 10.1109/EDUCON67543.2026.11574091 For the purposes of open access the author/s has/ve applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) version arising from this submission.

PY - 2026/6/29

Y1 - 2026/6/29

N2 - This paper addresses the pedagogical challenge of teaching engineering and management students the complex interplay of economic, social, and institutional pressures that govern sustainability in global supply chains. It introduces a novel, theory-driven gamified behavioural experiment designed to provide an immersive, experiential learning environment for this purpose. The game's design is grounded in Game Theory and Institutional Theory, which provide a robust framework for simulating the realistic decision-making dilemmas faced by apparel industry suppliers. The experiment was implemented in two pilot studies with postgraduate students, yielding preliminary data on student decision-making under varied systemic conditions. The key pedagogical finding is that student behaviour shifts predictably in response to changes in the simulated institutional environment, demonstrating the game's efficacy in making abstract theoretical concepts tangible. This paper details the pedagogical design, theoretical foundation, and preliminary application of the game, positioning it as an effective tool for developing systems thinking and ethical reasoning competencies related to sustainability in engineering education.

AB - This paper addresses the pedagogical challenge of teaching engineering and management students the complex interplay of economic, social, and institutional pressures that govern sustainability in global supply chains. It introduces a novel, theory-driven gamified behavioural experiment designed to provide an immersive, experiential learning environment for this purpose. The game's design is grounded in Game Theory and Institutional Theory, which provide a robust framework for simulating the realistic decision-making dilemmas faced by apparel industry suppliers. The experiment was implemented in two pilot studies with postgraduate students, yielding preliminary data on student decision-making under varied systemic conditions. The key pedagogical finding is that student behaviour shifts predictably in response to changes in the simulated institutional environment, demonstrating the game's efficacy in making abstract theoretical concepts tangible. This paper details the pedagogical design, theoretical foundation, and preliminary application of the game, positioning it as an effective tool for developing systems thinking and ethical reasoning competencies related to sustainability in engineering education.

KW - experiential learning

KW - gamification

KW - institutional theory

KW - supply chain management

KW - sustainability

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DO - 10.1109/EDUCON67543.2026.11574091

M3 - Conference publication

AN - SCOPUS:105044412430

T3 - IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON

BT - 2026 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)

PB - IEEE

T2 - 7th IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON 2026

Y2 - 27 April 2026 through 30 April 2026

ER -

The Sustainable Supplier: A Gamified Approach to Embedding Complex Sustainability Pressures in Engineering Education

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

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