Managing gamified programming courses with the FGPE platform

E-learning tools are gaining increasing relevance as facilitators in the task of learning how to program. This is mainly a result of the pandemic situation and consequent lockdown in several countries, which forced distance learning. Instant and relevant feedback to students, particularly if coupled with gamification, plays a pivotal role in this process and has already been demonstrated as an effective solution in this regard. However, teachers still struggle with the lack of tools that can adequately support the creation and management of online gamified programming courses. Until now, there was no software platform that would be simultaneously open-source and general-purpose (i.e., not integrated with a specific course on a specific programming language) while featuring a meaningful selection of gamification components. Such a solution has been developed as a part of the Framework for Gamified Programming Education (FGPE) project. In this paper, we present its two front-end components: FGPE AuthorKit and FGPE PLE, explain how they can be used by teachers to prepare and manage gamified programming courses, and report the results of the usability evaluation by the teachers using the platform in their classes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

To reward and beyond: Analyzing the effect of reward-basedstrategies in a MOOC

Producción CientíficaDespite the benefits of MOOCs (e.g., open access to education offered by prestigious universities), the low level of student engagement remains as an important issue causing massive dropouts in such courses. The use of reward-based gamification strategies is one approach to promote student engagement and prevent dropout. However, there is a lack of solid empirical studies analyzing the effects of rewards in MOOC environments. This paper reports a between-subjects design study conducted in a MOOC to analyze the effects of badges and redeemable rewards on student retention and engagement. Results show that the implemented reward strategies had not significant effect on student retention and behavioral engagement measured through the number of pageviews, task submissions, and student activity time. However, it was found that learners able to earn badges and redeemable rewards participated more in gamified tasks than those learners in the control group. Additionally, results reveal that the participants in the redeemable reward condition requested and earned earlier the rewards than those participants in the badge condition. The potential implications of these findings in the instructional design of future gamified MOOCs are also discussed.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (projects TIN2017-85179-C3-2-R / TIN2014-53199-C3-2-R)Junta de Castilla y León (project VA257P18)European Commission (project 588438-EPP-1-2017-1-EL- EPPKA2-KA

BIPMIN: A Gamified Framework for Process Modeling Education

Business Process Modeling is a skill that is becoming sought after for computer engineers, with Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) being one example of the tools used in modeling activities. Students of the Master of Computer Engineering course at Politecnico di Torino learn about BPMN in dedicated courses but often underperform on BPMN-related exercises due to difficulties understanding how to model processes. In recent years, there has been a surge of studies that employ gamification (using game elements in non-recreative contexts to obtain benefits) as a tool in Computer Engineering education to increase students’ engagement with the learning process. This study aims to use the principles of gamification to design a supplementary learning tool for the teaching of information systems technology. In particular, to improve student understanding and use of BPMN diagrams. This study also analyzes the usability and motivation of the participants in using different game elements in increasing student motivation and performance. As part of the study, a prototype web application was developed, which implemented three different designs, each incorporating different game elements relating to either progress, competition, or rewards. An evaluation was then conducted on the prototype to evaluate the performance of the practitioners in performing BPMN modeling tasks with the gamified tool, the usability of the proposed mechanics and the enjoyment of the individual game mechanics that were implemented. With the usage of the gamified tool, the users of the experimental sample were able to complete BPMN modeling tasks with performances compatible with estimates made through expert judgement (i.e., gamification had no negative effect on performance), and were motivated to check the correctness of their models many times during the task execution. The system was evaluated as highly usable (85.8 System Usability Score); the most enjoyed game elements were rewards, levels, progress bars and aesthetics

Are They Learning or Playing? : Moderator Conditions of Gamification's Success in Programming Classrooms

Students face several difficulties in introductory programming courses (CS1), often leading to high dropout rates, student demotivation, and lack of interest. The literature has indicated that the adequate use of gamification might improve learning in several domains, including CS1. However, the understanding of which (and how) factors influence gamification’s success, especially for CS1 education, is lacking. Thus, there is a clear need to shed light on pre-determinants of gamification’s impact. To tackle this gap, we investigate how user and contextual factors influence gamification’s effect on CS1 students through a quasi-experimental retrospective study ( ( N = 399 ) ), based on a between-subject design (conditions: gamified or non-gamified) in terms of final grade (academic achievement) and the number of programming assignments completed in an educational system (i.e., how much they practiced). Then, we evaluate whether and how user and contextual characteristics (e.g., age, gender, major, programming experience, working situation, internet access, and computer access/sharing) moderate that effect. Our findings indicate that gamification amplified to some extent the impact of practicing. Overall, students practicing in the gamified version presented higher academic achievement than those practicing the same amount in the non-gamified version. Intriguingly, those in the gamified version that practiced much more extensively than the average showed lower academic achievements than those who practiced comparable amounts in the non-gamified version. Furthermore, our results reveal gender as the only statistically significant moderator of gamification’s effect: in our data, it was positive for females but non-significant for males. These findings suggest which (and how) personal and contextual factors moderate gamification’s effects, indicate the need to further understand and examine context’s role, and show that gamification must be cautiously designed to prevent students from playing instead of learning.Peer reviewe

Issues’21 - Issues in Education

In the scope of the INW21, an international scientific joint event organized by Politécnico do Porto – Escola Superior de Educação (International Relations Office) and inED – Centre for Research and Innovation in Education, teachers, researchers and staff working in the field of Education joined together to share, discuss, reflect on and develop their ideas on topics related to Networking in Education. This meeting offered good opportunities for intercultural exchange and both personal and academic development. Therefore, professionals who attended the INW21 Conference / International Week had the chance to get in touch with high quality presentations which portray the rich research projects that we, educational practitioners, have been undertaking. Therefore, in order to make record of these presentations, a call for chapters has been promoted. In this way, issuEs 21 – Issues in Education, an e-Book, has been born.This publication is funded by National Funds through the FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., under the scope of the project UIDB/ 05198/2020 (Centre for Research and Innovation in Education, inED).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Tecnología y educación en tiempos de cambio

Esta obra desarrolla, con una mirada amplia de la tecnología al servicio del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje en todas sus vertientes, las investigaciones y experiencias llevadas a cabo en el último periodo, extendiendo su acción educativa y favoreciendo la mejora en todos los ámbitos de la vida. Este es el reto educativo que nos exigen los tiempos de cambio: impulsar la innovación en los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje de forma coherente a este escenario, y dotar a de las competencias digitales necesarias para desenvolverse en la sociedad aumentada por el desarrollo tecnológico.El presente trabajo muestra la transformación ámbito educativo ante el progresivo avance tecnológico y digital, en esta sociedad líquida que caracterizada por el cambio continuo. Los capítulos presentan los diferentes escenarios que suponen el desarrollo de las competencias adecuadas para desempeñar las profesiones en los distintos entornos educativos. En el marco de la educación formal, con la labor del colectivo docente, cuyo trabajo en primera línea con el alumnado exige unas destrezas que van más allá de las adquiridas en la formación inicial docente, con objeto de facilitar los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje adecuados al contexto de la sociedad del conocimiento, acercando al conjunto de estudiantes a la realidad en la que se desenvuelven en lo cotidiano. Las experiencias en el contexto de la educación no formal, mediante el diseño instruccional enriquecido con tecnologías, cuyo objeto se dirige a la creación de situaciones de aprendizaje continuo para el desempeño profesional, actualizando conocimientos sobre los distintos sectores de actividad, y promoviendo la formación en competencias digitales específicas al personal en ejercicio. El abordaje de las aportaciones desde la educación informal, ofrecen la creación de dinámicas comunitarias para el desarrollo social, favoreciendo la cohesión e inclusión social de las personas en situación de mayor vulnerabilidad mediante la intervención socioeducativa apoyada en las tecnologías. La finalidad de la doble inclusión, social y digital, mediante la alfabetización digital y mediática en todos los contextos de la vida, hace necesario fomentar el empoderamiento digital para la participación sociocomunitaria