An analysis of a video game on cognitive abilities:a study to enhance psychomotor skills via game-play

Psychomotor skills are a series of cognitive abilities often linked with physical movement, coordination and speed that individuals use, to progress through cognitive stages in order to demonstrate fine motor skills. This paper investigates whether or not playing a video game could potentially influence and improve the psychomotor skills of adolescents, particularly their eye-hand coordination, visual response and attention competence, the aim being to provide statistical evidence that video games can be potentially used to enhance psychomotor skills. A total of 62 participants were invited to participate in an experimental study where these participants were divided into two groups, the control group and the experimental group. The participants were aged between 16 and 19 years, and they were asked to complete a building block task that is closely associated with using psychomotor skills, and they did not have any prior experience of. A pre – post study design was used in both groups in order to measure participants’ level of confidence in using their psychomotor skills. Furthermore, the study investigated if the participants in the experimental group integrated elements of video game play into intentional and automatic real-life reactions within the building block task they undertook. The findings of the study suggest that those participants who played the video game were more confident in using their eye-hand coordination and visual response, and managed to complete the natural building block task faster and more accurately than the participants who did not play the video game

Developing an educational game to support cognitive learning

This paper outlines how an educational game can be used to support the learning of programming within the Computer Science (CS) discipline and reports on the qualitative results of a series of rigorous studies of the use of this game by first-year introductory programming students. Although this paper applies to the CS discipline, computational thinking (CT) as an intrinsic part of the games process is applicable to any discipline. This is because CT combines logical thinking with CS concepts to produce a recipe for solving problems, regardless of where a problem lies. Many studies indicate that learning through educational games appeals widely to students, regardless of their backgrounds (Liu et al, 2011; Papastergiou, 2009). However, though many of these studies demonstrate enthusiasm for educational games and indicate that games can enhance motivation for learning, they offer very few conclusions about what students learn from playing them or whether or not they acquire cognitive abilities thereby (Denner et al, 2012; Connolly et al, 2011)

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 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

A serious game for developing computational thinking and learning introductory computer programming

Owing to their ease of engagement and motivational nature, especially for younger age groups, games have been omnipresent in education since earliest times. More recently, computer video games have become widely used, particularly in secondary and tertiary education, to impart core knowledge in some subject areas and as an aid to attracting and retaining students. Academics have proposed a number of approaches, using games-based learning (GBL), to impart theoretical and applied knowledge,especially in the computer science discipline. Our research is concerned with the design of an innovative educational game framework focused on the development of Computational Thinking (CT) skills, and herein we introduce a serious game, based on our framework, which encourages the development of CT skills to facilitate learning introductory computer programming. We describe how a limited number of key introductory computer programming concepts have been mapped onto the game-play, and how an equivalent set of skills characterising CT can be acquired through playing the game. A survey response group of 25 students, following computer science and related degree programmes but with very diverse backgrounds and experience, provided initial usability feedback on the game. Their feedback confirmed that they found the game enjoyable, and also universally believed that this approach would be beneficial in helping students learn problem-solving skills for introductory computer programming. Feedback from this group will be incorporated in a revised version of the game, which will now be subject to rigorous experimental evaluation and analysis, to provide structured empirical evidence in support of our approach

Empirical evidence that proves a serious game is an educationally effective tool for learning computer programming constructs at the computational thinking level

Owing to their easy engagement and motivational nature, games predominantly in young age groups, have been omnipresent in education since ancient times. More recently, computer video games have become widely used, particularly in secondary and tertiary education, as a method of enhancing the understanding of some subject areas (especially in English language education, geography, history and health) and also used as an aid to attracting and retaining students. Many academics have proposed a number of approaches using video game-based learning (GBL), to impart theoretical and applied knowledge, especially in the Computer Science discipline. Despite several years of considerable effort, the empirical evidence in the GBL literature is still missing, specifically that which identifies what students learn from a serious game regarding programming constructs, and whether or not they acquire additional skills after they have been introduced to a GBL approach. Much of the existing work in this area explores the motivational aspect of video games and does not necessarily focus on what people can learn or which cognitive skills they can acquire that would be beneficial to support their learning in introductory computer programming. Hence, this research is concerned with the design, and determining the educational effectiveness, of a game model focused on the development of computational thinking (CT) skills through the medium of learning introductory programming constructs. The research is aimed at designing, developing and evaluating a serious game through a series of empirical studies in order to identify whether or not this serious game can be an educationally effective tool for learning computer programming at the CT level. The game model and its implementation are created to achieve two main purposes. Firstly, to develop a model that would allow students to practise a series of cognitive abilities that characterise CT, regardless of their programming background. Secondly, to support the learning of applied knowledge in introductory programming by demonstrating how a limited number of key introductory computer programming constructs which introductory programming students often find challenging and/or difficult to understand. In order to measure the impact of the serious game and its underlying game model, a pilot-study and a series of rigorous empirical studies have been designed. The pilot study was conducted as a freeform evaluation to obtain initial feedback on the game’s usability. A group of students following Computer Science and related degree programmes with diverse backgrounds and experience participated in the pilot-study and confirmed that they found the game enjoyable. The feedback obtained also showed that the majority of students believed the game would be beneficial in helping introductory programming students learn computational thinking skills. Having incorporated the feedback into a revised version of the game, a further series of rigorous studies were conducted, analysed and evaluated. In order to accurately measure the effect of the game, the findings of the studies were statistically analysed using parametric or non-parametric measures depending on the distribution of data gathered. Moreover, the correlations between how well students did in the game, the knowledge gain students felt, and the skills they felt they acquired after their game-play are thoroughly investigated. It was found that intrinsic motivation, attitude towards learning through game-play, students’ perception of their programming knowledge, how well students visualise programming constructs and their problem solving abilities were significantly enhanced after playing the game. The correlations of the studies provided evidence that there is no strong and significant relationship between the progress of students in the game and the computational thinking skills they felt they gained from it. It was concluded that students developed their computational thinking skills regardless of whether or not they reached the higher levels in the game. In addition to this, it was found that there are no strong and significant correlations between the key computer programming constructs and the computational thinking skills, which provides strong evidence that learning how introductory computer programming constructs work and developing computational thinking skills, are not directly connected to each other in the game environment. It was also found that students felt that their conditional logic, algorithmic thinking and simulation abilities had significantly developed after playing the game. As a result, this research concludes that the designed serious game is an educationally effective tool for a) learning how key introductory computer programming constructs work and b) developing cognitive skills in computational thinking

Enchanting e-learning through the use of an interactive feedback loop in digital games

One of the driving forces behind developing digital games is the idea that digital games have the potential to provide engagement in learning by delivering timely and well structured feedback. This paper discusses how the interactive-feedback loop found in digital games can be used to effectively support the engagement and also the progress of learners. We investigate key motivational factors in providing feedback and then explore current approaches in the use of feedback. This study introduces the concept that learning in games should be an integral part of the game play rather than layering games on top of traditional learning. By way of illustration, we introduce the game based approach we are currently developing to support first year undergraduate computer science students learning introductory programming

Developing a game model for computational thinking and learning traditional programming through game-play

In this paper, we discuss the problems students face when learning computer programming and describe our ongoing work that enables students to learn programming through the use of puzzle solving game-play. Learning how to program is difficult and has been identified as a potential reason for the high attrition rates within the Computer Science discipline. There is a need to develop a new way for students to learn programming that incorporates motivational challenges, timely and relevant feedback whilst still remaining focused on their learning outcomes. The game model presented here incorporated these fundamentals and grounded them at an abstract computational thinking level while providing a direct connection between game-play and programming constructs

Experimental evaluation results of a game based learning approach for learning introductory programming

There is a common belief that educational video games designed to deliver conceptual and applied knowledge on programming constructs are helpful to students who are learning introductory programming. A limited number of studies have been undertaken to evaluate this premise, but the majority only provide anecdotal evidence. This paper reports on the initial results of an experimental study using 75 information technology students who played an educational game designed to support their learning of introductory programming. The results show that students’ understanding of how programming constructs work, and their algorithmic thinking abilities, were positively enhanced. Additionally the findings also suggest that the intrinsic motivation of the students to learn computer programming, and their ability to visualise programming constructs from a given problem, were increased after playing the game