JAVANT-GARDE: A Cross-Platform Serious Game for an Introduction to Programming With Java

Background. Learning programming is a cognitively demanding field of study accompanied with various difficulties. Although there is a high demand in the market for programmers, software analysts and engineers, a high dropout rate is recorded in relevant fields of study. Serious games are a promising means of engaging students in learning programming by giving them more incentives and making the process of learning programming concepts and languages more entertaining. Aim. This article introduces a new serious game called PY-RATE ADVENTURES, which aims to assist young students in their introduction to the basic programming concepts using Python. The game does not have any prerequisites and is suitable for players with no previous knowledge of programming. This article aims to present important information regarding the analysis, design and pilot evaluation of PY-RATE ADVENTURES. Method. The game was evaluated by 31 people that had recently graduated or were students of an Interdepartmental Programme of Postgraduate Studies in Information Systems. The participants voluntarily played the game and answered a questionnaire based on the MEEGA+ model, after their hands on experience with the game. This questionnaire’s purpose was to evaluate PY-RATE ADVENTURES in terms of perceived player experience and short-term learning. Results. The participants positively evaluated the game almost in all the elements of player experience. Furthermore, the majority of the users consider that the game helped them to learn basic programming concepts in Python and stated that they would prefer to learn programming with this game rather than other teaching methods. Conclusion. The positive results of the pilot evaluation give us the motivation to proceed and evaluate the game with students in secondary education, in order to extract stronger and generalisable conclusions regarding the impact of the game as an educational tool for learning programming concepts.

The interest of children in learning to program computers has increased dramatically in recent years with the adaptation of new programming languages such as Scratch or game-based approaches. That being so, it is still unclear how best to teach programming concepts to young children. There is a gap in the literature on how to introduce basic programming concepts to children at the primary school level, while taking factors such as the grade level and approach used into account. This paper explores the best approach for introducing basic programming concepts to school children in the 4th, 5th and 6th grades as well as the effects of the approaches on students’ learning gains (per concept). The concepts addressed here are those used in a traditional Introduction to Programming course, such as programs, memory and variables, inputs and outputs, conditionals and loops. The paper presents the resulting improvements achieved by the 4th, 5th and 6th graders in a multigroup pretest-posttest design, with a control group (the use of a blackboard as an unplugged approach) and two experimental groups (the use of a visual execution environment (VEE) with a mouse and the use of the VEE with Makey Makey). We present the results exploring the interaction between the grade and approach factors for the 144 children (9-12 years old) enrolled in primary education. The results provide statistically significant data indicating how the children succeeded in learning basic programming concepts according to their grade, the type of approach used, and the programming concept under study.

Improving students' understanding of basic programming concepts through visual programming language: The role of self-efficacy

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine whether the authoring of computer games in a mainstream primary school setting can support the learning of game design and programming concepts. Background: Despite the benefits for students when they learn how to program and the significant body of research regarding this matter, these benefits are still under debate, and the teaching of programming has a relatively undeveloped pedagogy. With this in mind, a project was designed and implemented, having constructionism as its theoretical framework. Also, Microsoft’s Kodu Game Lab was used for the development of students’ games. Methodology: The project lasted for almost a school year (fifty two-hour sessions) and the target group was fifth-grade students (ages 10-11). A total of 138 students participated, coming from five schools in Athens, Greece. Students were divided into three groups. While all groups worked in pairs, to the first there was no teachers’ guidance, to the second there was limited teachers’ guidance, and to the third, a combination of teacher-led and pair work was used. Each group developed three games of escalating complexity and a total of 207 games were analyzed. Data were collected by analyzing students’ games and with a short questionnaire. Contribution: The study contributes to the debate surrounding the pedagogy of computer game authoring as a tool for teaching programming. That is because few studies have examined the above in mainstream settings, having as a target group primary school students. Furthermore, the present study is in contrast to most studies which involved intensive research projects, since it lasted for almost a school year. Findings: It was found that the most commonly used programming concept was conditions, followed by variables and loops, while Boolean logic and functions were the least used ones. The most problematic concepts proved to be Boolean logic and loops, closely followed by functions. The least problematic concepts were conditions and variables. Also, the number of programming concepts that were used was increasing in each game, while the errors were decreasing. All in all, students’ final games fall into the relational level according to a modified version of the SOLO taxonomy. While the findings indicated that, as well as learning some basic programming concepts, students enjoyed the activity and demonstrated positive attitudes to learning programming by developing games; it was also found that the teaching method did not have any effect on the learning outcomes nor in their views for game authoring. Recommendations for Practitioners: Extended projects can be considered for teaching programming to primary school students, using visual programming tools that allow the development of games. The classes’ teachers can undertake the task to teach programming if they are properly trained. The SOLO taxonomy can be used for assessing students’ games. Future Research: Future studies can examine a variety of game-like programming environments and the target group can be older or younger students. The assessment of students’ games is also an interesting topic. Finally, research can be conducted by using other devices and compare the results.

This chapter presents a review of the literature on learning programming through virtual reality (VR) and introduces an empirical study of our VR-based escape room platform designed for this purpose. The platform comprises two modules. The first module introduces learners to fundamental object-oriented programming (OOP) concepts through an engaging escape room experience. The storyline involves creatures trapped in a spaceship, and users must solve programming puzzles to unlock spaceship doors and progress through the levels. The second module focuses on more advanced programming concepts, such as conditional statements and loops. Similar to the first module, this module is structured as an escape room, with a storyline about a person trapped in a house who must solve programming puzzles to escape. The primary objective of this study was to examine whether the VR-based gamified escape room enhances students’ perceptions of their learning performance and motivation in learning fundamental and OOP concepts. Additionally, we sought to determine if there is a difference in engagement levels between the VR version and the computer display version of the escape room platform. To evaluate students’ perceptions of learning performance and motivation, we conducted pre-test and post-test surveys using a Likert scale, supplemented by interviews at the conclusion of the study. The findings indicate an improvement in participants’ learning performance and underscore the benefits of learning programming through the VR-based escape room, aligning with the trends and insights reported in existing literature.

The subject matter of this essay concerns the use of manipulatives and teaching aids in the teaching of mathematics for the 1st and 2nd grade of primary school, combined with educational robotics applications. In particular, the use of the programmable bee-bot floor robot combines procedures that involve the use of manipulative means (creating a track as a cardboard model, painting, assembling), teaching aid tools (demonstration of the programmable bee-bot floor robot), and finally, the comprehension of simple programming and mathematical concepts. Through the implementation of an educational scenario aiming to familiarize students with the basic geometric concepts, mathematical operations (multiplication table), basic algorithmic structures (simple problems and step solving), there will be involvement with the cognitive areas of informatics (basic programming concepts)) and mathematics (geometry, calculations).

Despite the fact that pedagogical programming environments have been available for several years, some fundamental concepts of object-oriented programming and design, such as encapsulation, interfaces, polymorphism, and inheritance, are not addressed by existing tools to a full extent. This paper presents novel interaction metaphors embodied in tool support that, as opposed to existing tools, makes possible to illustrate such object-oriented programming concepts with first-class representations. A tool referred to as AguiaJ, which is being used at our institution for the past three years, embodies novel interaction metaphors for addressing the aforementioned concepts in a gradual and comprehensive way. We explain the innovative tool features using a running example involving the domain of image manipulation.

From the Publisher: Discover the basic concepts of object-oriented programming and the elements of object-oriented design. Timothy Budd teaches objects, class methods, inheritance (including multiple inheritance), polymorphism and principles in a language-independent manner, with examples from five different languages: C++, Delphi, Java, Objective-C, and Smalltalk.

This paper introduces a new programming language for children named AFOL. The creation of the AFOL programming language has been based on the idea of the well-known Logo programming language. However, AFOL extends Logo’s basic programming concepts such as sequential and functional programming by introducing the more modern concepts of Object Oriented programming. Furthermore, AFOL incorporates highly sophisticated user interaction mechanisms, namely affective interaction through emotion recognition and through the use of animated tutoring agents. In this way, the interaction of children is more user-friendly and constructive since children learn programming and have fun at the same time.KeywordsProgramming LanguageEmotion RecognitionEmotional IntelligencePedagogical AgentAffective ComputingThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Computational Thinking (CT) can be defined as the thought processes involved in formulating problems so that their solutions can be represented as sequential steps and algorithms. It is a key skill for children in the 21st century. However, it is unclear how CT can be developed most effectively in children. Several pedagogical methodologies have been proposed and are being investigated. The main aim of this paper is to test the hypothesis which states that using three‐dimensional (3D) simulated robots helps in the learning of programming and CT concepts, such as directions, loops, conditionals, and functions. The research questions are: Does this hypothesis hold true? Are some concepts easier or better learned than others and to what extent? The goal is to measure and evaluate the effect of using as a learning tool a platform with 3D simulated robots and realistic physics, and compare it with the standard Scratch learning tool which does not use robotics but a two‐dimensional (2D) cartoon avatar they are already familiar with. For practical reasons, a quasiexperimental design with nonequivalent groups and 85 second‐year Secondary Education students (ages 12–13) was performed. They were separated into control and experimental groups and followed a seven‐session intervention with the baseline 2D Scratch and the 3D simulated robots platform, respectively. Both used a visual block programming language and the same activities. To have quantitative and reliable results, a widely accepted CT test has been used, pre‐ and postintervention. Also qualitative feedback is presented. The obtained results show that using the platform with simulated 3D robots significantly helps when developing students' CT. With it, the students do learn basic programming concepts and reach higher scores in the CT test. This improvement applies to all CT‐analyzed concepts except in functions where the grades are maintained. Furthermore, students manage to master the activities on the 3D simulated robots platform, which reflects on the empowerment the platform has got in them.

In the past, the use of tangible programming languages has shown several advantages compared to screenbased graphical programming languages. Especially when presented to novices, such interfaces may represent a more intuitive and straightforward alternative to teach basic computer science and programming concepts. Previous studies have reported increased interest and improved collaboration when tangible programming languages were used. However, additional financial expenses have often hindered the use of such interfaces in formal education settings. This work therefore presents a low-cost and customizable solution of a tangible programming language for Thymio, an educational robot widely used in primary and secondary schools. Using a computer vision algorithm, graphical icons printed on paper are captured by a camera, and subsequently interpreted and sent to the robot for execution. Two user studies with in total 77 university students showed promising results, indicating that the devised interface can elicit more interest and a higher level of collaboration within groups.

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm in which programs are organized as cooperative collections of object. Learning the object-oriented approach is however difficult for novice students, mostly because the concepts of object, class and inheritance are abstract in nature. The main objective of this article is to present the design and validation of a learning environment for learning the concepts of object-oriented programming. The learning environment is based on Polya's heuristic method for solving problems. The validation process was performed using a pretest and post-test applied to two groups: control and experimental. The results given in the validation demonstrate evidence that experimental group recorded a higher level of consolidation of the concepts of object-oriented programming.

Almost 20 years have passed since Pendegraft described his use of Lego® toys to teach students basic modeling skills and linear programming concepts. Since then, many instructors of operations research (including the author) and their students have benefited from his contribution. In this article, the author describes a series of extensions he has developed since originally implementing Pendegraft’s active learning exercise in the introductory operations courses he teaches. Through these extensions, the author integrates the concepts of sensitivity, integer programming, and LP formulation and extends the modeling experience beyond the original exercise.

Although Object Orientation is emphasized in software engineering education, few have attempted to alleviate the initial learning curve associated with an inexperienced audience in non-computer science disciplines. The authors propose a Problem-Based Learning curriculum centered on game development to deliver basic Object-Oriented programming concepts in an interactive and engaging manner. Class activities occur within the context of the Object-Oriented Rational Unified Process. One of the most significant contributions of this paper lies in the design of class modules containing tasks intended to educate students on Object-Oriented Software Engineering in an incremental and self-actuated way.

Using the Delphi programming environment in Computer Science lessons helps students to understand more quickly the basic concepts of visual programming, to develop their skills in coding applications in different fields, and not least such an approach motivates students to study Computer Science, because it arouses their interest.