The Use of Educational Games in Programming Assignments: SQL Island as a Case Study
Educational games have attracted the interest of instructors and researchers in various fields of knowledge since they seem to motivate students, engage them in the educational process, and improve their performance. Computer programming is, without a doubt, cognitively demanding, and this has resul...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-06-01
|
| Series: | Applied Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/13/6563 |
| _version_ | 1827655457551941632 |
|---|---|
| author | Stelios Xinogalos Maya Satratzemi |
| author_facet | Stelios Xinogalos Maya Satratzemi |
| author_sort | Stelios Xinogalos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Educational games have attracted the interest of instructors and researchers in various fields of knowledge since they seem to motivate students, engage them in the educational process, and improve their performance. Computer programming is, without a doubt, cognitively demanding, and this has resulted in extended utilization of educational games. An important limitation of the relevant research lies in the fact that it is based on volunteer participants, while it is carried out as a side activity in programming courses and not in real-world course settings. In this article, a study investigating the utilization of the educational game SQL Island in the context of an assignment on the Structured Query Language (SQL) in a compulsory undergraduate course on Web programming is presented. Fifty-six students attending the course evaluated the player experience and perceived short-term learning through a questionnaire based on the MEEGA+ model for evaluating educational games targeted to computing education. The results both on player experience and perceived short-term learning were rather positive. Students’ performance in the programming tasks of the game was very good, and the overall intervention proved to be effective. Moreover, conclusions were drawn on the constituent features of educational games that can be effectively used in the context of programming assignments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:07:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e7ce2a3ef2b042aeaa76294f67997d3b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:07:57Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-e7ce2a3ef2b042aeaa76294f67997d3b2023-11-23T19:38:51ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172022-06-011213656310.3390/app12136563The Use of Educational Games in Programming Assignments: SQL Island as a Case StudyStelios Xinogalos0Maya Satratzemi1Department of Applied Informatics, University of Macedonia, GR-54636 Thessaloniki, GreeceDepartment of Applied Informatics, University of Macedonia, GR-54636 Thessaloniki, GreeceEducational games have attracted the interest of instructors and researchers in various fields of knowledge since they seem to motivate students, engage them in the educational process, and improve their performance. Computer programming is, without a doubt, cognitively demanding, and this has resulted in extended utilization of educational games. An important limitation of the relevant research lies in the fact that it is based on volunteer participants, while it is carried out as a side activity in programming courses and not in real-world course settings. In this article, a study investigating the utilization of the educational game SQL Island in the context of an assignment on the Structured Query Language (SQL) in a compulsory undergraduate course on Web programming is presented. Fifty-six students attending the course evaluated the player experience and perceived short-term learning through a questionnaire based on the MEEGA+ model for evaluating educational games targeted to computing education. The results both on player experience and perceived short-term learning were rather positive. Students’ performance in the programming tasks of the game was very good, and the overall intervention proved to be effective. Moreover, conclusions were drawn on the constituent features of educational games that can be effectively used in the context of programming assignments.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/13/6563educational gameseducational games for programmingSQLprogramming assignmentsplayer experienceperceived short-term learning |
| spellingShingle | Stelios Xinogalos Maya Satratzemi The Use of Educational Games in Programming Assignments: SQL Island as a Case Study Applied Sciences educational games educational games for programming SQL programming assignments player experience perceived short-term learning |
| title | The Use of Educational Games in Programming Assignments: SQL Island as a Case Study |
| title_full | The Use of Educational Games in Programming Assignments: SQL Island as a Case Study |
| title_fullStr | The Use of Educational Games in Programming Assignments: SQL Island as a Case Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Use of Educational Games in Programming Assignments: SQL Island as a Case Study |
| title_short | The Use of Educational Games in Programming Assignments: SQL Island as a Case Study |
| title_sort | use of educational games in programming assignments sql island as a case study |
| topic | educational games educational games for programming SQL programming assignments player experience perceived short-term learning |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/13/6563 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT steliosxinogalos theuseofeducationalgamesinprogrammingassignmentssqlislandasacasestudy AT mayasatratzemi theuseofeducationalgamesinprogrammingassignmentssqlislandasacasestudy AT steliosxinogalos useofeducationalgamesinprogrammingassignmentssqlislandasacasestudy AT mayasatratzemi useofeducationalgamesinprogrammingassignmentssqlislandasacasestudy |