The Gamification of Code

Teaching an introductory web design course is already a blended environment. Students meet face-to-face, yet have access to a myriad of online resources, YouTube videos, blogs, and forums to support their learning. However, the challenges of learning to understand code can inhibit students and diminish their motivation to look for resources. The authors have attempted to address this issue by focusing on the use and design of games for learning to code, as well as providing video lecture material in combination with the traditional face-to-face learning environment. By using games and gamification in the course design, the authors have found that students are able not only to bridge their knowledge between modalities more smoothly, but that they understand that there are multiple ways to solve a problem and feel empowered to search for solutions in innovative ways.

A Review of Educational Games for Teaching Programming to Primary School Students

In recent years, several educational games for learning programming have been developed with promising results. The main purpose of this chapter is to present 22 educational games or platforms that aim to cultivate computational thinking through teaching computer programming concepts to primary school students. A short description of each game followed by a comparative analysis of both their game mechanics and their educational aspects is presented. Additionally, less typical functionalities such as online classrooms, the support for learning analytics, and the creation of new levels are analyzed. This chapter could be useful for game designers and IT teachers who would like to use a game-based approach in the teaching process.

Educational Video Games for Learning English Vocabulary

Researchers have been exploring the potential of educational video games for learning English vocabulary. The primary focus is on two questions: (1) Can educational video games motivate students to learn English vocabulary (which explores students' attitudes)? and (2) Are educational video games effective in acquiring English vocabulary (which explores learning outcomes)? Good quality empirical research on this is rare because of the shortage of games specific to educational purposes. In addition, although some researchers have contributed to answering these two questions, their methodology is not convincing. Therefore, this chapter aims to provide an overview of their methodologies by introducing participant groups, popular educational video games, pre-test, post-test, and data analysis. Finally, this chapter will inspire researchers to conduct more reliable empirical research, thereby making better-found contributions to the field.

Do Future Teachers Believe that Video Games Help Learning?

One of the factors associated with the educational use of video games is the conception that teachers and students have about their educative usefulness. However, there are no studies that identify what aspects are considered more effective to learn with video games and what kind of learning is more accessible using them. This study aims at identifying pre-service teachers’ conceptions regarding video game use for learning and specifically to know what aspects and learning they consider are more feasible. Likewise, we analyzed the pedagogical training effect of these conceptions for three groups of university students: primary pre-service teachers (who received general pedagogical training), secondary pre-service teachers (who received pedagogical training in only one area of knowledge) and other university students without pedagogical training. We applied a questionnaire to a sample of 422 university students. This questionnaire had two dimensions that differentiated between the pragmatic and epistemic uses of video games for learning and three dimensions about the different verbal, procedural and attitudinal learning which can be achieved with them. The results showed wide acceptance of video games as a learning resource in university students, but in particular secondary pre-service teachers pointed out higher possibilities of achieving learning with video games than primary pre-service teachers. On the other hand, university students pointed out more learning when video games were used in an epistemic way. In addition, they considered video games favor more verbal and procedural learnings than attitudinal ones. In conclusion, despite the positive conceptions of the students about learning with video games, we observed a less positive pattern in pre-service teachers with general pedagogical training. These results suggest that video game incorporation in schools is not being carried out fruitfully by education faculties. Therefore, we advocated for 21st-century training that optimized new conceptions and uses of video games.

Fostering University Students’ Engagement in Teamwork and Innovation Behaviors through Game-Based Learning (GBL)

Higher Education Instituions (HEIs) should be the driving force behind the training of college students in terms of both hard and soft skills (for example, innovation and teamwork competencies), and they should also do so without neglecting their health and well-being, perhaps more than ever in these complex times of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. Game-based learning (GBL) could be a powerful and useful tool in this regard. There is, however, some controversy surrounding the use of games for learning purposes in higher education institutions, and most of the research done about this issue corresponds to GBL through digital games. Under this background, the main objective of this study was to test the effect of GBL on the intrinsic motivation (IM), teamwork engagement (TWE), team building (TB), teamwork competence (TWC), and innovation behaviors (IWB) of 142 college students of Health Sciences and Social Work. After rehearsing in small groups, the game was tested (T2). Our results obtained through the differential analyses confirmed that undergraduates were more intrinsically motivated, experienced more TWE, TB, and TWC, and developed more IWB than before playing the game (T1). Therefore, the development of core personal skills might be promoted effectively by games in an efficient, engaging, and motivating way.

Mobile Educational Games For Learning Sirah Nabi: Development And Usability Evaluation

The pervasive use of the internet and mobile phone among the age group 5 – 17 years old makes learning through these media an attractive proposition. Mobile learning presents a flexible and inventive way of learning as well as the new normal. On the other hand, learning Sirah is an essential part of every Muslim in the world in order to understand what has happened in the past regarding our beloved prophet and to learn from his behaviour and follow his sunnah. However, past studies shown that the traditional learning approach seems dull and not interesting enough. Mobile learning thus offers a new solution in learning the Sirah and similar subjects most students find of low interest and dull. The study used a quantitative approach using survey for data collection; and was divided into two phases: Sirah Game Prototype Design and Usability Evaluation phase. The ADDIE model was adapted as a model to guide instructional design process and development of the Sirah mobile applications with five phases throughout the process. An evaluation model consisted of seven components namely Game Usability, Mobility, Learning Content and Playability, Satisfaction, Efficiency was implemented. The findings suggested that students are highly interested in the use of the games for learning, able to learn Sirah subject in better ways by using the games and learning with games was found as enjoyable way to learn. This study adds more to Islamic digital content and enhances the learning approach for Sirah subject. We hope to contribute more towards Islamic digital content in the future for the benefit of our ummah and community.

An Evaluation of the Relationship Between Perceptions and Performance of Students in a Serious Game

The growing interest in the use of digital games for education resulted in the expansion of the field of game-based learning. There have been several research on the perceptions and attitudes of students towards the use of games for learning. These studies have tried to understand what students make of the use of digital games for learning, as it is believed that the views of users and their acceptance of new technologies play a crucial role in ensuring successful outcomes. However, it is unclear whether there is any relationship between experiences, perceptions towards games and gameplay performance in a learning game. Understanding this relationship is important for game developers to effectively design and develop games, and for educators to be able to determine how to best deploy games for educational purposes. This study examines how the experiences and perceptions of engineering students towards digital games for engineering education influence their use and performance in a serious game called CosmiClean. Findings suggest that while students are enthusiastic about digital learning games, there was no relationship between their perceptions of games for learning and their gameplay performance. However, a relationship was found between the game experiences of students and their gameplay performance.

Perancangan Board Game Kolaboratif. Studi Kasus: Legenda Gunung Tondoyan

Collaboration is one of the soft skills needed in the 21st century. One way to advance collaborative skills is to use a board game. It is common today to find board games for learning purposes. The design of this collaborative board game uses qualitative methods, namely literature studies, brainstorming, physical prototypes, software prototypes, and design documentation. With this research, it is hoped that it will help understand how to design a collaborative board game. Keywords: board game; collaborative; prototype