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Theoretical Foundations and Evaluations of Serious Games for Learning Data Structures and Recursion: A Review

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Serious Games (JCSG 2020)

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Abstract

Data structures and recursive algorithms are challenging concepts to learn because they are abstract and difficult to relate to familiar knowledge. Many researchers suggest that digital serious games may be a good tool to facilitate the learning process of these topics. This article presents a review of currently available digital serious games for learning that focus on teaching data structures and recursive algorithms. The review identifies and classifies the specific data structures and recursive algorithms covered by those games, analyzes the learning theoretical foundations for the games, and assesses the studies performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the games.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Alberto Rojas-Salazar & Mads Haahr

Authors
  1. Alberto Rojas-Salazar
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  2. Mads Haahr
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alberto Rojas-Salazar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Falmouth University, Penryn, UK

    Minhua Ma

  2. Staffordshire University, Stoke-On-Trent, UK

    Bobbie Fletcher

  3. Multimedia Communications Lab - KOM, TU Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany

    Stefan Göbel

  4. KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, Södertälje, Stockholms Län, Sweden

    Jannicke Baalsrud Hauge

  5. Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Tim Marsh

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Rojas-Salazar, A., Haahr, M. (2020). Theoretical Foundations and Evaluations of Serious Games for Learning Data Structures and Recursion: A Review. In: Ma, M., Fletcher, B., Göbel, S., Baalsrud Hauge, J., Marsh, T. (eds) Serious Games. JCSG 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12434. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61814-8_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61814-8_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-61813-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-61814-8

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