A Serious Game for Learning C Programming Language Concepts Using Solo Taxonomy

This paper conducts a study to identify pedagogical approaches and gameplay techniques involved in the development of serious games for teaching scientific courses in general especially programming languages. The concept of serious games is increasingly popular and is considered as an innovative teaching practice since it is based on information and communication technology and gamification to foster learning. To this end, a serious game "Perobo" will be introduced and discussed. It is based on a set of gameplay techniques and pedagogical approaches used for teaching pointers, considered as a difficult concept in C programming language, and essential for programming complex and advanced programs. The game is also based on a taxonomy design to define the learning levels

A Cross-Platform Mobile Application for Learning Programming Basics

This paper presents and discusses a new mobile application for teaching and learning programming basics. The purpose is to help students acquire competencies while having fun and using their own devices. The mobile application was designed according to cross-platform approach to reach the broadest possible audience of learners, saving time and effort of development and maintenance. The code is fully shared between mobile platforms (iOS, Android and Windows Phone) allowing learners to install the application on any device. The core application is based on a multi-agent system to make the application interactive, flexible and dynamic and provide students with tailored instructions. A prototype is presented showing the main features of the application.</p