Learning Programming at the Computational Thinking Level via Digital Game-Play

This paper outlines an innovative game model for learning computational thinking (CT) skills through digital game-play. We have designed a game framework where students can practice and develop their skills in CT with little or no programming knowledge. We analyze how this game supports various CT c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Procedia computer science 2012, Vol.9, p.522-531
Main Authors: Kazimoglu, Cagin, Kiernan, Mary, Bacon, Liz, MacKinnon, Lachlan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
computational thinking
game based learning
games and learning
introductory programming
serious games
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Summary:This paper outlines an innovative game model for learning computational thinking (CT) skills through digital game-play. We have designed a game framework where students can practice and develop their skills in CT with little or no programming knowledge. We analyze how this game supports various CT concepts and how these concepts can be mapped to programming constructs to facilitate learning introductory computer programming. Moreover, we discuss the potential benefits of our approach as a support tool to foster student motivation and abilities in problem solving. As initial evaluation, we provide some analysis of feedback from a survey response group of 25 students who have played our game as a voluntary exercise. Structured empirical evaluation will follow, and the plan for that is briefly described.
ISSN:1877-0509
1877-0509
DOI:10.1016/j.procs.2012.04.056