Abstract:

Game strategies have been found to be extremely effective in motivating users. Without motivation there is no durable learning and the engagement that games produce is hard to match by any other learning methods. Nonetheless, the application of games strategies needs more commitment and work at teacher side than traditional ones.
While lot of theoretical works describe how useful games could be used in teaching neither collect practical guides that helps newer practitioners to manage the use of games in their courses nor propose specific games that would can adapt to different disciplines. With this work we want to transfer, in the form of a list of guidelines, our experience in how to used games in Software Engineering courses. LudoScrum is the set of activities we have defined to teach specific skills, knowledge and attitudes related to Agile methodologies.

After applying these gaming activities within a subject related to project management the Computer Science degree in the University of Almería, the involved teachers were able to summon up a list of practical rules. The guidelines are going to be validated along the next academic years in these subjects in order to could extend them to other areas of knowledge out of Software engineering discipline. They are listed below:

Manipulability. Touching pieces of paper or cards is engaging and as some primary school teachers say: What is learned with hands is never forgotten!.

Mobility. Teamwork is a pillar for Software engineering practitioners, so, most of the activities were defined to be executed in groups and most of them around a table. But in order to promote proactivity, teams are pressured into moving inside the classroom, or changing the seats.

Games gadgetry. It is frowned upon for an adult to build a spaceship out of LEGO. Nonetheless, everybody has game related memories, such as rolling a dice and praying it isn't a blunder. Thus tiles, dices or cards engage students in the learning processes involved in those games.

Stopwatch. Race against the clock in a game carries put pressure on teams so as do not forgetting that we are in a learning activity, not in an amusement one, that have to receive feedback on the work done, that is a debriefing after playing has to be planned.

The easier the better, but not always. Because several activities focus on complex agile techniques, even being in a controlled environment, they could be hard to follow, but it is needed. Nobody said it should be easy but no one ever said it would be this hard!.

Zero sum game. A game needs a winner, but not always, teams can work together to build a product or reach a goal. A balance between collaboration and competition is needed.

Several rounds for comparison. It is a useful resource to compare working strategies by trying game rounds with slightly different approaches, in our case, agile vs traditional software methods.

Reusing games The objective is to learn, not to play, so innovative game rules do not matter. If well-known games such as pictionary, tabu or ludo, can be adapted to learn, do it!.

Serious games helps in tuition because they offer immersive situations where users ‘learn by doing’. Applying games mechanic in non-playful situation not only teaches and facilitates the absorption of knowledge, but also encourages socialization and collaboration, basic skills for software developers.

Keywords:

Software engineering, Agile methods, Serious games.