Decimal to Binary Number Conversion can be Fun

Numbering systems are of great importance in Computer Science and Engineering education. The binary numbering system can be considered as one of the most fundamental, since its understanding is essential for the understanding of other Computer Science and Engineering concepts, such as data representation, data storage, computer architecture, networking, and many more. Yet, students are having difficulties understanding it. One approach which has been shown to improve learning of different science and mathematics concepts is the use of educational games. Educational games have the potential to engage and motivate learners through fun activities. This paper presents a small exploratory survey on an electronic educational game for practicing decimal to binary number conversions

Do Robots Dream of Virtual Sheep: Rediscovering the "Karel the Robot" Paradigm for the "Plug&Play Generation"

We introduce ”C-Sheep”, an educational system designed to teach students the fundamentals of computer programming in a novel and exciting way. Recent studies suggest that computer science education is fast approaching a crisis - application numbers for degree courses in the area of computer programming are down, and potential candidates are put off the subject which they do not fully understand. We address this problem with our system by providing the visually rich virtual environment of ”The Meadow”, where the user writes programs to control the behaviour of a sheep using our ”CSheep” programming language. This combination of the ”Karel the Robot” paradigm with modern 3D computer graphics techniques, more commonly found in computer games, aims to help students to realise that computer programming can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience and intends to help educators with the teaching of computer science fundamentals. Our mini-language-like system for computer science education uses a state of the art rendering engine offering features more commonly found in entertainment systems. The scope of the mini-language is designed to fit in with the curriculum for the first term of an introductory computer program ming course (using the C programming language)

University Students Promoting Science in the Community

Project SEARCH (Science Education and Research for Children) has brought these undergraduate students here today. It is an outreach program designed to bring the science resources of a large research university to classrooms and community centers. For the past 9 years, SEARCH students have spent 4 hours each week doing hands-on-science experiments, dissecting frogs, demonstrating microscopes, lecturing about the planets, playing computer games, exploring the World Wide Web, and creating Web pages.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Learning computer science by watching video games

This paper proposes a teaching method that utilizes video games in computer science education. The primary characteristic of this approach is that it utilizes video games as observational materials. The underlying idea is that by observing the computational behavior of a wide variety of video games, learners will easily grasp the fundamental architecture, theory, and technology of computers. The results of a case study conducted indicate that the method enhances the motivation of students for deeper learning of computer science concepts

Toward Using Games to Teach Fundamental Computer Science Concepts

Video and computer games have become an important area of study in the field of education. Games have been designed to teach mathematics, physics, raise social awareness, teach history and geography, and train soldiers in the military. Recent work has created computer games for teaching computer programming and understanding basic algorithms. We present an investigation where computer games are used to teach two fundamental computer science concepts: boolean expressions and recursion. The games are intended to teach the concepts and not how to implement them in a programming language. For this investigation, two computer games were created. One is designed to teach basic boolean expressions and operators and the other to teach fundamental concepts of recursion. We describe the design and implementation of both games. We evaluate the effectiveness of these games using before and after surveys. The surveys were designed to ascertain basic understanding, attitudes and beliefs regarding the concepts. The boolean game was evaluated with local high school students and students in a college level introductory computer science course. The recursion game was evaluated with students in a college level introductory computer science course. We present the analysis of the collected survey information for both games. This analysis shows a significant positive change in student attitude towards recursion and modest gains in student learning outcomes for both topics

Video Games and the Second Life of Science Class

Can video games and computer simulations revive science education in the US? Amy Maxmen has the story

Packet Delivery: An Investigation of Educational Video Games for Computer Science Education

The field of educational video games has rapidly grown since the 1970s, mostly producing video games to teach core education concepts such as mathematics, natural science, and English. Recently, various research groups have developed educational games to address elective topics such as finance and health. Educational video games often target grade school audiences and rarely target high school students, college students, or adults. Computer science topics are not a common theme among educational video games; the games that address Computer Science topics teach computer fundamentals, such as typing or basic programming, to young audiences. Packet Delivery, an educational video game for introductory computer science students, is an investigation into the use of apprenticeship learning, constructivism, and scaffolding learning paradigms to teach the Domain Name System (DNS) lookup process. In Packet Delivery, the player\u27s primary task is delivering letters without addresses to recipients via a search mechanism that emulates the DNS lookup process. Through practice and in-game upgrades, the player\u27s goal is to learn the basics of DNS lookup and its optimizations. To analyze comprehension and retention of students playing Packet Delivery, a study containing three tests were given to participants over the course of a few weeks; a pretest gauging prior knowledge, a post-test gauging immediate comprehension, and a follow-up post-test gauging retention. The study provided a proof of concept that educational video games not only have a significant place in higher education, but that apprenticeship learning, constructivism, and scaffolding are highly effective learning paradigms for use within educational video games. Adviser: Shruti Bolma

Gender Differences and Digital Learning Games – One Size Does not fit all

The intrinsic motivation demonstrated towards digital games provides the opportunity for its use as a learning tool irrespective of gender differences. This has resulted in the combination of the motivation of games with curricular content referred to as Digital Game-Based Learning. While some related studies have argued that there are no gender differences in the motivational appeal of digital educational games, others present an opposing view. This paper reports the result of an investigation into the motivational appeal of digital educational games for 11-14 years old girls and boys. There is evidence that this age group is pivotal to the shrinking pipeline phenomenon in which fewer females progressively engage with computer science education and careers. The investigation involved a two stage study composed of a qualitative exploratory study, which identified the key criteria for the successful appeal of some digital entertainment games to young girls and boys and a main study. The main study generate both qualitative and quantitative data to further investigate the motivational appeal of digital educational games for learning basic computer science concepts for both girls and boys of age 11-14 years old. For the main study, two experimental games for learning basic computer science concepts were created based on the key criteria identified from the exploratory study. The first included the game characteristics that appeared to support the motivational appeal of the girls. The second game was antithetical to the first. Both genders from the participating population engaged with both games and online questionnaires were used to capture data on their perception of both games. The outcome of the investigation which involved 304 participants (girls = 152 and boys =152) from Southeast England, United Kingdom provided the empirical evidence in support of the argument that there are gender differences in the motivational appeal of digital educational game characteristics which can either support or thwart motivation i.e. one size does not fit all. The result of this investigation should support educationists, researchers and digital educational game designers in having an inclusive approach towards the creation of digital educational games for learning

Promoting dental care to children using traditional and interactive media following threat appeals

In recent years, computer games have become an important part of children’s lives. Gaming is not only one of their favorite pastime activities, but games are also increasingly used by marketers in an attempt to influence children’s purchase behavior. Today, almost every food and beverage brand targeting children has an advergame on its website. Advergames are “computer games specifically created to function as advertisements to promote brands”, containing brand identifiers such as logos and brand characters (Kretchmer, 2005: 7). Games can also be powerful learning tools. Several authors (e.g., Gee, 2003; Prensky, 2001) argue that computer games can be more enjoyable, more interesting and thus more effective than traditional learning modes to increase children’s knowledge. Empirical studies that evaluated the impact of the use of games within disciplines such as mathematics, science, language, geography and computer science show positive outcomes in terms of learning effectiveness in relation to curricular objectives (e.g., Papastergiou, 2009; Rosas et al., 2003). However, these authors mainly focus on the learning ability of games rather than their persuasive impact for social marketing purposes. In the area of health education, playing computer games has often been seen with skepticism (e.g., Bale, 1994; Funk and Buchman, 1995)

Design attributes of educational computer software for optimising girls' participation in educational game playing

Recent research on girls in science education in Australian primary schools indicates a participation rate lower than that of boys. This inequality could lead subsequently to reduced opportunities for girls entering the workforce in their adult years. Many studies have attempted to reveal why this situation has arisen and a variety of strategies for increasing girls' participation has been suggested. A relatively new strategy that does not appear frequently in the research literature is the use of educational computer game software. An important question arises: does the game software used in primary school science education reflect design attributes favoured by boys and, if so, do these attributes actively discourage girls' participation by making them feel uncomfortable or stressed? My case study was designed to identify design features of computer games that girls prefer so that these features can be included in educational computer game software designed for science education, as well as the other Key Learning Areas. Through interviews, surveys and observations my interpretive study obtained the opinions and views of over 200 children in two suburban Australian primary schools in which I work as a teacher-librarian. In this role I purchase educational computer games and organize special classes for students to play them. From my analysis of the data I make recommendations that reflect girls' preferred design attributes for educational computer games. I also generate a checklist of criteria from my interpretations that may result in the purchase of software that could not only enhance girls' participation and success in primary school science, the curriculum area of greatest personal interest to me, but also in other Key Learning Areas of primary education.