AN INVESTIGATION INTO USING A COLLABORATIVE GAMIFIED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AS A TOOL TO ENHANCE THE LEARNING OF BASIC COMPUTER PROGRAMMING CONCEPTS

This paper outlines the importance of the synthesis of collaborative learning and gamification techniques to teach basic computer programming and identifies the need for a collaborative gamified learning environment (CGLE) in order to maximise student opportunities to learn programming within a supportive setting.

Over the past four years, the teaching of computing has undergone substantial change within the UK National Curriculum, departing from Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in favour of Computer Science (CS). The computing at schools working group (Computingatschool.org.uk, 2016) was set up to provide leadership, direction and resources for the teaching of basic computing and programming in order to address the clear need to provide support for teachers new to the CS curriculum. Another important factor is the need to motivate struggling students, whilst also retaining the interest of those with prior experience. Studies (Carter and Hundhausen, 2016) have found that it is not only the programming tasks themselves which affect learning success, social activity and peer engagement of students are also a predictor of outcomes due to the demonstrable benefits of collaborative working. A gap in the literature exists in the application of collaborative gamified techniques to support both the teaching and learning of basic computing concepts.

This paper focuses on the use of gamification and collaborative learning to enhance the computer programming learning process. To this end a set of six basic computer operations that can be taught through learning to program have been identified and form the measurable aim of the research.
A review of the current literature in gamification and collaborative learning has been undertaken in order to form the foundation of a framework that can be used in an experiment with a cohort of novice undergraduate students.

Persuasive evidence has been found that suggests collaborative learning can leverage the benefits and motivational factors of social learning and interaction however the core challenges in this approach are team matching and dynamics, group decision-making and communication..

Analysis of the current rise of gamification as a motivational tool in both business and education is offered, with a detailed focus on its use in learning. Recent gamification frameworks are reviewed and common features and concepts identified. These include, but are not limited to: Epic meaning or setting purpose, marking accomplishment with rewards and visible status, providing feedback to aid engagement, giving a sense of ownership in the system, using social influence for motivation and providing the freedom to explore and make mistakes in a safe environment. (Marczewski, 2015; Chou, 2015; Werbach and Hunter, 2012; Kapp, 2012)

Having identified the core challenges and opportunities in gamification, collaboration and learning and how they affect each other, this paper will propose an initial framework for a CGLE, in order to pave the path to successfully implement the CGLE within the curricula to increase engagement and effective learning.