Software Engineering Education and Games: A Systematic Literature Review

The trend in using games in elementary level education also spreads through higher education levels and specific domains such as engineering. Recently, researchers have shown an increased interest in the usage of games in software engineering. In this paper, we are presenting a systematic review and analysis of 350 papers regarding games in software engineering education that was published in the last fifteen years. After applying our inclusion criteria and manual inspection of these studies, we have ended up with 53 primary papers. Based on a systematic process, we reported and discussed our findings with possible future research directions. The main results of this study indicate that the studies are accumulated around 5 categories: Games that learners/students play, games that learners/students develop as projects, curriculum proposals, developing/coming up with new approaches, tools, frameworks or suggestions and others

Enhancing Narrative Writing Skills through Action-Adventure Video Games

Video games have become a big part of a student’s life. With the influence of massively marketed commercial games, teachers can no longer ignore the role it plays in the student’s overall development. This research investigates the link between commercial video games and the teaching and learning of the English language, specifically, narrative writing. This research utilized a pre-experimental research design on 4 respondents using the Sony PlayStation 3 gaming console and Naughty Dog Inc’s “UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves” video game. The results of the research show that there are several narrative elements in the video game which differs from the standard narrative structure used in an English language classroom and these elements were transferred to the respondents who played the game, as evidenced in their post-experience narrative essay. The three features of the game: Three-Act Narrative Structure, Double-Climax feature and the existence of the Orientation suggest the positive influences of the video game on the respondents’ narrative writing ability. From the results of this research, teachers will be able to tap into the educational potential of commercial video games to further enrich their writing class by integrating commercial video games into their narrative writing class. It challenges ESL teachers to break out of their traditional methodologies and use commercial video games as a tool to enrich the students’ learning experience and retention. Keywords: Narrative writing, video games, three act structure, narrative structure, ES

Teaching games level design using the StarCraft II editor

Level design is often characterised as “where the rubber hits the road” in game development. It is a core area of games design, alongside design of game rules and narrative. However, there is a lack of literature dedicated to documenting teaching games design, let alone the more specialised topic of level design. Furthermore, there is a lack of formal frameworks for best practice in level design, as professional game developers often rely on intuition and previous experience. As a result, there is little for games design teachers to draw on when presented with the opportunity to teach a level design unit. In this paper, we discuss the design and implementation of a games level design unit in which students use the StarCraft II Galaxy Editor. We report on two cycles of an action research project, reflecting upon our experiences with respect to student feedback and peer review, and outlining our plans for improving the unit in years to come

Computer games development class with appreciative learning approach: from the perspective of bloom’s taxonomy

Both computer games development and appreciative learning approach are still at the infancy stage of utilization at educational setting. The purpose of this study was to explore what lower secondary students learned from the application of appreciative learning approach in computer games development class. Triangulated data comprising of interviews, logbooks, visual captures, researchers’ observations, and games were produced. NVivo software was used to support data management. The compiled codes were clustered to create themes pertinent to Bloom’s taxonomy. As a result, computer games development within appreciative learning approach environment was found as positively related to students’ cognitive, affective, and psychomotor development. Nevertheless, caution is warranted in making inferences as different students gained different learning experiences and outcomes, analogous to different players generated different outcomes in computer games

Increase of the level of graphic competence future bachelor in computer sciences in the process of studying three-dimensional modeling

The article deals with the examination of distinct aspects of the application of 3D modeling technologies as the promising trend, which found its application in the process of creation of models for 3D printout, virtual and augmented reality, in the process of development of gameplays, in modeling of objects for educational aims etc. The urgency of the study of the 3D model processing considering the conditions by bachelors of computer sciences, nominated by competitive environment of labour market has been defined. The necessity of improvement of methods of graphical discipline teaching and the actuality of the introduction of the study of 3D modeling technologies in the process of professional training of future bachelors of computer sciences as a promising trend considering the demands of labour market and as the factor raising the level of student motivation to a professional activity in general and the formation level of graphical competence in particular have been grounded. The methodological support of the course has been described, the aim and content of the study of the “Computer Graphics” discipline have been presented. The structure and the content of theoretical and practical parts of the course have been provided, which are oriented to the use of the 3D graphical Autodesk Maya processor. The algorithm has been examined and the stages of creation of organic form objects have been described on the example of modeling of game characters and the algorithm of creation of 3D surroundings on the example of modeling of the game level interior. The certain aspects of informational and communicational support of the “Computer Graphics” course have been examined, within the frames of which the approbation of the developed educational and methodological complex has been performed

A Digital Game Maturity Model

Game development is an interdisciplinary concept that embraces artistic, software engineering, management, and business disciplines. Game development is considered as one of the most complex tasks in software engineering. Hence, for successful development of good-quality games, the game developers must consider and explore all related dimensions as well as discussing them with the stakeholders involved. This research facilitates a better understanding of important dimensions of digital game development methodology. The increased popularity of digital games, the challenges faced by game development organizations in developing quality games, and severe competition in the digital game industry demand a game development process maturity assessment. Consequently, this study presents a Digital Game Maturity Model to evaluate the current development methodology in an organization. The objective is first to identify key factors in the game development process, then to classify these factors into target groups, and eventually to use this grouping as a theoretical basis for proposing a maturity model for digital game development. In doing so, the research focuses on three major stakeholders in game development: developers, consumers, and business management. The framework of the proposed model consists of assessment questionnaires made up of key identified factors from three empirical studies, a performance scale, and a rating method. The main goal of the questionnaires is to collect information about current processes and practices. This research contributes towards formulating a comprehensive and unified strategy for game development process maturity assessment. The proposed model was evaluated with two case studies from the digital game industry

Los juegos de clase no tecnológicos como una estrategia didáctica para la enseñanza de la ingeniería de software

La ingeniería de software es una profesión especial, pues sus practicantes requieren conocimientos y habilidades ligadas simultáneamente con muchas áreas del conocimiento; en especial, se requieren habilidades en comunicación y administración de proyectos. La enseñanza de la ingeniería de software se ha realizado tradicionalmente con una combinación de clases expositivas y pequeños proyectos prácticos; también, se han usado estrategias como los estudios de casos y los juegos de computador o video con fines de instrucción. Sin embargo, las necesidades de la industria del software plantean nuevos retos educativos que requieren también una combinación de nuevas estrategias complementarias a la educación tradicional. En este trabajo se presentan cinco juegos no tecnológicos que se pueden aplicar en el aula de clase para la enseñanza de diferentes aspectos de la ingeniería de software. Se presentan, además, los resultados de la aplicación de estos juegos a varios grupos de estudiantes y profesores de diferentes niveles. / Abstract: Software engineering is a special profession, and its practitioners need knowledge and capabilities simultaneously linked to many knowledge areas (for example, they require communication and project management skills). Software engineering teaching has been traditionally made with a mix of lectures and "toy" practical projects; they also have been used strategies like case study and instructional video/computer games. However, the needs of software industry pose new educational challenges; these challenges require, again, a mix of new complementary strategies to traditional education. We present in this work five non-technological in-class games for teaching various aspects of software engineering. Also, we present the results of the games´ application to several groups of students and teachers from different levels

L’incidence de l’utilisation de l’ordinateur à des fins personnelles sur la motivation et l’engagement scolaire

Le but du présent projet de thèse est d’étudier le lien entre les habitudes à l’endroit des technologies de l’information et de la communication (TIC) et la motivation à apprendre. Bien que l’utilisation de l’ordinateur en contexte scolaire ait été étudiée en profondeur au cours des dernières années, la majorité des études présentent la même perspective : elles examinent l’effet de l’utilisation des technologies à l’école sur le rendement et la motivation scolaire des élèves. Cependant, on connaît mal l’effet de l’utilisation des technologies à des fins personnelles sur le vécu scolaire. Il apparait que les élèves n’ont pas tous les mêmes opportunités en ce qui a trait à l’utilisation des TIC et n’acquièrent donc pas tous les mêmes compétences dans ce domaine. Quelques recherches se sont intéressées aux effets de l’ordinateur (sa présence et son utilisation à la maison) sur le rendement à l’école. Bien qu’en majorité, les auteurs s’entendent sur les bénéfices que pourrait générer l’ordinateur, ils restent prudents sur les rapports de cause à effet (Beltran, Das et Fairlie, 2008; OCDE, 2006). Nous avons voulu aborder la question différemment : déterminer les possibles liens entre les habitudes d’utilisation de l’ordinateur à des fins personnelles et la motivation à apprendre à l’école. À cet égard, la motivation pour les sciences a été retenue puisque cette matière scolaire fait souvent appel à des compétences associées à l’utilisation des TIC. Pour répondre à nos objectifs, 331 élèves du cours ordinaire de sciences et technologie au premier cycle du secondaire ont remplis un questionnaire autorapporté, composé de sept échelles motivationnelles et d’un questionnaire lié à l’utilisation des TIC. Nous avons d’abord dégagé des profils d’utilisateurs à partir des différentes utilisations de l’ordinateur. Ensuite, nous avons examiné ces profils en lien avec leurs caractéristiques motivationnelles (le sentiment de compétence, l’anxiété, l’intérêt et les buts d’accomplissement) et l’engagement pour le cours de sciences. Finalement, nous avons déterminé la valeur prédictive de l’utilisation de l’ordinateur sur les variables motivationnelles retenues. Nos résultats montrent que l’utilisation personnelle des TIC ne se fait pas nécessairement au détriment de l’école. Nous avons trouvé que les élèves qui utilisent davantage les TIC dans leurs temps libres, et ce, avec des utilisations diversifiées, ont des caractéristiques motivationnelles plus positives. Toutefois, nous constatons que le type d’usage est lié à un effet médiateur positif ou négatif sur la motivation à apprendre. Les élèves qui limitent leurs utilisations de l’ordinateur à la communication et aux jeux ont des caractéristiques motivationnelles plus négatives que ceux avec des utilisations variées. Les usages centrés sur la communication semblent être ceux qui sont le plus susceptibles d’être liés négativement à la motivation à apprendre alors que ceux orientés vers les usages à caractère intellectuel s’avèrent plus positifs. Les résultats suggèrent que la clé ne réside pas dans le temps d'utilisation mais plutôt dans l'utilisation judicieuse de ce temps. En favorisant des usages à caractère intellectuel, tout en laissant des temps libres aux jeunes, nous augmentons leurs chances de développer de bonnes habitudes technologiques qui seront essentielles dans la société de demain.This thesis’ subject was to study the relationship between the personal uses of computers and motivational attitudes in science. Even though computer uses in educational context have been extensively studied in recent years, the bulk of the research was focused on describing the impact of computer activities and utilizations at school on achievement and motivation in different subject matter. However, little is known about the impact of personal uses of computer on school experience. Moreover, despite an increase of households with computers, not every child has the same opportunity to use them. These children do not develop their computer literacy outside school, and this phenomenon could have an effect on academic related tasks. Some studies have focused on the effect of computers (their presence and use) on academic performance. Although they are unanimous about the positive impact of computers, researchers remain cautious in their conclusions (Beltran et al., 2008; OCDE, 2006). They stress that a direct cause to effect relation is not easy to establish. Moreover, those studies mainly examined school achievement. We wanted to address the issue differently: to determine the relation between personal computer uses and motivation at school. For this purpose, motivation in sciences was chosen. This subject matter often requires skills associated with ICT and computers. To do so, 331 students from public high schools in the Montreal area, in the regular sciences classes in 7th and 8th grade were selected. They completed a questionnaire composed of 7 motivational scales and several ICT usages questions. To meet our objectives, we established ICT profiles, based on personal uses of computer. With those profiles, we examined differences within motivational characteristics (competence beliefs, anxiety, interest and achievement goals) and commitment for the sciences courses. Our results show that time spent on personal computer use does not necessarily have a negative impact on school. We found that students who frequently use computers in their spare time, with a variety of usage, have more positive motivational characteristics. However, by delving deeper in our results, we found that the type of uses could be linked to positive or negative inducing effects on the motivation to learn. Indeed, students who use computers mostly for communication and playing games have less motivation that student with more various usages. Moreover, communication uses seem to be the most problematic type of usage while uses with intellectual nature have a more positive effect. Our study found that having a computer at home is not a synonym of frequent usage by young people. Our results suggest that the key to motivational success is the use made of the time spent in front of the computer not only the time spent. By encouraging uses of intellectual nature, we increase chances of developing positive technological habits that will be essential in tomorrow’s society