Abstract
Computational thinking (CT) is becoming a growing field in educational research and practice. CT is not only related to coding or programming, but also a fundamental skill for everyone to solve problems effectively and efficiently with solutions that are reusable in different contexts, which helps to improve our analytical ability for different tasks. Therefore, parents are eager to enroll their children in children programming courses. This paper presents the design of a web-based game for learning computational thinking anywhere and anytime. It has a visual programming environment for programming virtual robot to complete specific tasks. Our game levels are designed to cover the following five core elements of CT: reformulation, recursion, decomposition, abstraction and systematic testing. The game also supports collaborative learning, in which some game levels involve multiple robots to be programmed by multiple players at the same time. A survey on twenty undergraduate computer science students showed that our game requires the application of the above five core elements of CT to complete, and is likely to be an attractive learning tool for learners including primary students.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Shute, V.J., Sun, C., Asbell-Clarke, J.: Demystifying computational thinking. Educ. Res. Rev. 22, 142–158 (2017)
Berland, M., Wilensky, U.: Comparing virtual and physical robotics environments for supporting complex systems and computational thinking. J. Sci. Educ. Technol. 24(5), 628–647 (2015)
Friedman, T.L.: The two codes your kids need to know. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/opinion/college-board-sat-ap.html. Accessed 13 Feb 2019
Wing, J.M.: Computational thinking. Commun. ACM 49(3), 33–35 (2006)
Xiang, B.: Computer programming education goes viral in China. XinhuaNet. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-04/14/c_137110920.htm. Accessed 29 Mar 2019
Sun, J.: Get with the program: China’s coding kids. Sixth Tone. https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1002642/get-with-the-program-chinas-coding-kids. Accessed 29 Mar 2019
Cremer, J.: Does your child need to learn coding? South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/2142622/does-your-child-need-learn-coding. Accessed 13 Feb 2019
Resnick, M., et al.: Scratch: programming for all. Commun. ACM 52(11), 60–67 (2009)
Cooper, S., Dann, W., Pausch, R.: Alice: a 3-D tool for introductory programming concepts. J. Comput. Sci. Coll. 15(5), 107–116 (2000)
Gerlach, J.M.: Is this collaboration? In: Bosworth, K., Hamilton, S.J. (eds.) Collaborative Learning: Underlying Processes and Effective Techniques, New Directions for Teaching and Learning no. 59 (1994)
Denner, J., Werner, L., Campe, S., Ortiz, E.: Pair programming: under what conditions is it advantageous for middle school students? J. Res. Technol. Educ. 46(3), 277–296 (2014)
Nicholson, S.: A RECIPE for meaningful gamification. In: Reiners, T., Wood, L. (eds.) Gamification in Education and Business. Springer, Cham (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10208-5_1
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Lee, LK., Cheung, TK., Ho, LT., Yiu, WH., Wu, NI. (2019). Learning Computational Thinking Through Gamification and Collaborative Learning. In: Cheung, S., Lee, LK., Simonova, I., Kozel, T., Kwok, LF. (eds) Blended Learning: Educational Innovation for Personalized Learning. ICBL 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11546. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21562-0_28
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21562-0_28
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-21561-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-21562-0
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)