Learning and practicing decision structures in a game
Jinghua Zhang, Emanuel Smith, Elvira R. Caldwell, Matthew John Perkins · Journal of computing sciences in colleges · 2014
This paper presents a game-like instructional module titled Lost Java Code for teaching decision structures (if, if-else, if-else-if and switch) and related concepts in Computer Programming I class. Developed by two undergraduate students with GameMaker 8.1, it is a side scroll game where participants need to stop at all the information booths to learn/review the concepts at each level and then answer all the questions correctly in order to open the gate to the next level. The objective of the game is to provide the participants with a fun environment to review and practice the concepts of decision structures. This paper presents the game design and implementation in detail and shares our experiences in using this module in the CSC1310 Computer Programming I class at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU). Initial assessment outcomes show promising results and student feedback is very positive.