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Influence of problem-based learning games on effective computer programming learning in higher education

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Abstract

Gaming is a part of today’s society, especially for younger generations. Therefore, game-based approaches are unsurprisingly used for learning achievement. In this study, a game-based learning courseware was implemented using a problem-based strategy. For this purpose, a game known as ‘Programmer Adventure Land’ was designed and developed. A group of college students were asked to play the game to improve their knowledge of computer programming. Results indicated that the problem-based learning approach of the game can enhance the satisfaction, enjoyment, motivation, and user interface for the problem-based game learning courseware. The main finding of this study is that Problem-based games provide teachers with an effective approach for enhancing students’ learning satisfaction in difficult subjects, such as computer programming.

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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the authors on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers’ valuable feedback. We also thank Jui-Fa Chen for his assistance with game development and Ting-Lun Kuo for his assistance with data collection.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Council of the Republic of China (Taiwan), under Contract No. MOST 103-2511-S-032-006-MY2.

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  1. Department of Educational Technology, Tamkang University, New Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

    Chiung-Sui Chang & Chih-Hung Chung

  2. Program of Educational Leadership and Technology Management, Tamkang University, New Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

    Julio Areck Chang

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CS Chang conceived the research idea and designed the research framework. CHC analyzed data. CSC, CHC and JAC equally contributed to prepared, revised and approved the manuscript. All three authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Chiung-Sui Chang.

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Chang, CS., Chung, CH. & Chang, J.A. Influence of problem-based learning games on effective computer programming learning in higher education. Education Tech Research Dev 68, 2615–2634 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09784-3

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