Abstract:

Technology has become an integral part of the teaching learning process because it has a great potential of activating student’s interest. The 21 century learners are digital natives, most of them spend countless hours glued to different devices such as mobile, laptops, video game consoles, and this generation is less fearful of using technology. For instance, one of the current trends in the educational landscape is serious games. Games for learning use the entertaining side to promote learning. The purpose of gamification in learning is to boost student engagement and to make learning enjoyable. Computer programming is a multidisciplinary course that promotes critical thinking and problem solving skills. By learning how to program, students learn how to transform abstract problems into logical steps of instructions as a solution. Still, learning a programming language is challenging especially if students lack the prerequisites. This paper discusses the potential of using gamified challenges to learn basic principles of C programming language. For instance, the focus is on learning pointers which are considered among the difficult concepts. The proposed game use constructivism as educational approach and both point & click and drag & drop as gameplay techniques. The game effectiveness is validated using learning principles in gaming.

Keywords:

Serious games, programming, gameplay, pointers, learning principles, drag & drop, point & click, game-based learning, constructivism.