A compulsory yet motivating question/answer game to teach computer fundamentals

Abstract

Age of Computers is a web-based multi-player game for teaching computer fundamentals to undergraduate engineering students. The storyline of the game is linked to the historical periods (epochs) of computers, and the content is organized in rooms or places on a map where the player moves around to answer questions and solve puzzles. This paper reports on the usage of the game in a course with 250 undergraduate students. Both questionnaire surveys and observations of student behavior indicate that the game was positively received even if the students were obliged to use it in the context of the course. ß