Real-Life Project-Based Learning in Introductory Programming: a Game for Cancer Prevention
Henrique Mohallem Paiva, Victor Takashi Hayashi, Monica Anastassiu, Maurício Garcia, Flávia Maria Santoro · 2023
Teaching programming to novices is not a trivial task due to many students misconceptions regarding programming concepts. As a result, first-year STEM students may be discouraged to learn programming, impairing essential skills required for Information Technology professionals. This article aims to investigate if Project Based Learning (PBL) is a suitable approach to Introductory Programming that contributes to let students write functional code for real-life problems. A case study was carried out with 35 first-year students during a ten-week period. The project consisted on the development of educational computer games to disseminate cancer prevention awareness, a real-life problem proposed by a Medical College. Feedback from this external stakeholder and student perceptions are presented. PBL benefits, challenges and implications for Introductory Programming are also discussed.