Studying the effects of teaching programming to lower secondary school students with a serious game: a case study with Python and CodeCombat

Kroustalli, Chrysoula; Xinogalos, Stelios

doi:10.1007/s10639-021-10596-y

Cited by 19 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…On the other hand, participants rated the Perceived Usefulness (PU) of using serious games as very high (M= 17.32 and SD= 2.601), after using AstroCódigo; they considered that these games could help them improve their performance. These results coincide with the ones obtained by Sanchez-Mena, Martí-Parreño, and Aldás-Manzano (2017) and Kroustalli and Xinogalos (2021).…”

Section: Rq2 What Is Thesupporting

confidence: 92%

“…They valued the methodology of the sessions. These assessments coincide with the ones obtained in the study of Kroustalli and Xinogalos (2021).…”

Section: Rq2 What Is Thesupporting

confidence: 89%

“…In Greece, Kroustalli and Xinogalos (2021) conducted a study at secondary level and they used the TAM model to determine the acceptance, ease of use and perceived usefulness by students in relation to using the serious game CodeCombat to acquire competencies in programming, and problem solving through Python. As a result, CodeCombat had a positive evaluation in relation to the ease of use, perceived usefulness and attitude towards its use.…”

Section: Technology Acceptance Model (Tam)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Acceptance of Serious Games to Develop Digital Competencies in Higher Education Professors

Delgado¹,

Sanz²,

Lovos³

2022

EJEL

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Serious games are the focus of the current research agenda. They show promise for allowing students to learn and practice skills. In fewer studies, they are used for the development of academic competencies. Therefore, it is of interest to deepen the research on the benefits of serious games in academic education and training. This article presents a study using serious games aimed at higher education academics’ training for the development of digital competencies. The study was carried out with 56 academics, using the serious game called AstroCódigo. The study analyzed the level of acceptance of serious games using the TAM model and what factors the academics believe affect this acceptance. It is important to know possible barriers that affect the development of actions oriented to the formation of academic competencies through serious games, which can also affect the adoption of games as a resource for teaching situations. None of prior studies have focused on analyzing the technological acceptance of serious games used for the development of academic competencies. The results of this research indicate that participants believe that using serious games can be beneficial to drive digital competencies. However, there are aspects such as the highest academic qualification, work experience, professional development, perceived usefulness, ease of use, and fear of change associated with age rank which can play a negative role in the use and acceptance of digital technologies by academics, particularly serious games. These results may be a clue to the barriers linked to the fact that most of the participants in this study do not use serious games in their classes or for their digital skills training. Additionally, the possibility to try and fail and the increased level of challenges proposed in the serious games, related to enjoyment, were valued by academics, during the sessions with AstroCódigo. These findings open the door to organize strategies for academic training in digital competencies within higher education institutions. They can also impact the design decisions of new serious games.

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Section: Rq2 What Is Thesupporting

confidence: 92%

“…They valued the methodology of the sessions. These assessments coincide with the ones obtained in the study of Kroustalli and Xinogalos (2021).…”

Section: Rq2 What Is Thesupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Technology Acceptance Model (Tam)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Acceptance of Serious Games to Develop Digital Competencies in Higher Education Professors

Delgado¹,

Sanz²,

Lovos³

2022

EJEL

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“…Expertise. New sensor technology information is added to the teaching content to ensure that students learn as much as possible about the cutting-edge development of sensors [22][23]. Some emerging sensor technology applications and the most recent sensing materials and devices are incorporated into the curriculum, such as Internet of Things (IoT) technology, which connects items to the Internet for information exchange and communication according to agreed protocols in order to achieve intelligent identification, positioning, and navigation [24].…”

Section: Acquiring New Sensor Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Design of an Intelligent Sensor Teaching Experiment System and Measurement of Student Innovation Literacy

Xing

2022

Journal of Sensors

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Most of the experimental teaching links adopt experimental teaching, and few of them are taught through experimental simulation system. The intelligent sensor teaching experimental simulation system is a simulation measurement software system compiled by access and LabVIEW software to assist the use of sensor measurement and virtual instrument practical teaching platform, which realizes the network teaching of experimental links and carries out exploratory work. It has important practical significance for the modernization of experimental links. At the same time, the intelligent sensor experimental system can effectively improve the problems of students’ low learning motivation and poor learning effect in the learning process and finally let students participate in the construction of sensor teaching experimental system, improve students’ learning interest and enthusiasm, and cultivate students’ autonomous learning and innovation ability. Through the establishment of intelligent sensor teaching simulation system, this paper successfully improves students’ innovative literacy in teaching level, scientific research practice, teaching content, teaching methods, and intelligent lectures and greatly improves students’ learning enthusiasm, learning efficiency, and teaching quality.

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“…to develop games that addressed real‐world problems improved the motivation of 11–15‐year‐old students ( n = 773) to learn programming, and was considered by educators as a valuable and efficient way to accomplish learning objectives related to programming for lower secondary students. Kroustalli and Xinogalos (2021) found that the use of the serious game CodeCombat improved the grasp of basic programming concepts in Python among 12–13‐year‐old students ( n = 59), as well as their ease of use and attitude towards using serious games for programming. At the university level, Malliarakis et al (2017) found that using the educational Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) CMX improved first‐year undergraduate students' ( n = 76) grasp of procedural programming concepts, motivation and attitude towards re‐using CMX in the future.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scratch and unity design in elementary education: A study in initial teacher training

Sáez-López

González‐Calero

Gutiérrez

et al. 2023

Computer Assisted Learning

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BackgroundThe present study analyses the design of programming literacy in the sixth grade of Primary Education, starting from the use of simple activities with visual block‐based programming, through Scratch, and progressively linking difficulty to the use of the Unity engine, and the C# language, with simple activities identical to those created in Scratch.ObjectivesThis research aims to evaluate future teachers' abilities and attitudes regarding programming and its educational possibilities. We intend to evaluate the viability of a teaching proposal that combines a visual block‐based programming environment and a more advanced one, based on C#.MethodIn the settings of two public Spanish universities, we analyse the possibilities in the training of future teachers who are studying for a degree in Primary Education Teaching and a degree in Pedagogy. Based on a test and three scales, descriptive data and statistical inference are detailed through a quasi‐experimental design with a Student's t‐test in the first dimension, and a Wilcoxon test in the second dimension.ResultsThe participants improved their performance and attitudes towards programming with the intervention of the study in the use of coding.ConclusionsIt can be concluded that coding is essential in teacher training, and that a greater presence of programming training in higher education is essential. The benefits are visible in the pedagogical approach of coding related to creativity, innovation, motivation, an active approach and interest, highlighting the fact that the implementation of visual block‐based programming by blocks and engines is feasible in Elementary Education. The training proposal—provided by appropriate progression, selection, and sequencing of content—fosters basic and practical teacher training, and this can be defined as an apt training solution.

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Studying the effects of teaching programming to lower secondary school students with a serious game: a case study with Python and CodeCombat

Cited by 19 publications

References 27 publications

Acceptance of Serious Games to Develop Digital Competencies in Higher Education Professors

Acceptance of Serious Games to Develop Digital Competencies in Higher Education Professors

Design of an Intelligent Sensor Teaching Experiment System and Measurement of Student Innovation Literacy

Scratch and unity design in elementary education: A study in initial teacher training

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