Dave Tucker Edinboro University of Pennsylvania EXPLORING GAMEBASED

Dave Tucker Edinboro University of Pennsylvania EXPLORING GAME-BASED LEARNING FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE

What will be covered Are Serious games useful? Examples

Overview Serious games used to teach Computer Science topics New research area Useful tool for teaching abstract topics Can be used for any subject matter, this talk focuses on uses in Computer Science New rapid development software for 3 D sims Research demonstrating success of using games for education Three examples with Higher Ed in mind

Research Yes, a valid way to educate Some studies say slight, others up to 63% gain in knowledge All agree that students prefer the use of games over traditional methods. There are examples of where students were motivated to go beyond the game and research more about a topic Applying knowledge is better than hearing the knowledge Requires the use of Critical Thinking

Advantages Experimental Learning – No pressure and unlimited tries Inquiry-Based Learning – Experiment to learn new things Self-Efficacy – Tend to keep trying until victory Goal Setting – Motivation Cooperation – possible if multiplayer game Continuous Feedback – Immediate response

Examples – Age of Computers Travel back in time to solve problems Mostly multiple choice questions Math & Processor control also 95% of students said its more motivating than traditional exercises

Examples – Virtual Family Teach java programming Uses family characters You want to make your characters programmed to react to your other character actions (like a form of programming known as Object Oriented)

Examples – Problems & Programmers Card based game Software Engineering (design) Player must follow certain steps collecting cards How well you design depends on how you play your cards Can get random problems Budget concerns Goal is to finish on as soon as possible with quality product Students found it easy to learn and was an effective teaching method

Examples – Algorithm Visualization Binary Search Try to find the number Player knows that the numbers are in order Timed

Examples – Algorithm Visualization Teaching sorting techniques Move the cards using a certain sorting method (insertion sort in this example) See how accurate the player is given a fixed amount of time

Current Project Simple walk through Inside a PC Approach a computer component, it prompts a multiple choice question.

Conclusions No disadvantage to using serious games to supplement or replace traditional teaching methods Majority of cases found that students learn more while enjoying the experience. Further research needed Other topics such as simulations for networks 1 st year programming students high failure rate

Questions

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