Using Games in Introductory Courses: Tips From the Trenches

I feel confident from my previous research that introducing games to learn programming concepts can be beneficial if done correctly. What exactly is considered “done correctly”? That’s my new focus and based on this, I found this research that gives some interesting tips on using games.

Using Games in Introductory Courses: Tips From the Trenches
Jessica D. Bayliss
Rochester Institute of Technology
http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/1510000/1508989/p337-bayliss.pdf?key1=1508989&key2=8187859321&coll=GUIDE&dl=GUIDE&CFID=30881536&CFTOKEN=16402446

The author noted that one of the areas with a record of success is with using games in introductory programming courses. While there are several successful programs, the drawbacks of these approaches are not commonly discussed along with their benefits. The author stated, “Having run a successful game-based program that retained students within the CS major at a 93% rate, we discuss both the benefits of the program as well as the problems that need to be considered and overcome.”

TIPS FOR SUCCESS

Based on the author’s experiences with using games in the introductory course sequence, the following tips would be considered helpful for others to follow.

In essence, instructors who wish to use games in introductory courses should:

- learn about modern games through playing them and before using them in a course. A professor or lecturer teaching games should play them and know about them.
- consider course outcomes and add game assignments to meet them. Games are flashy and it is easy to become lost in trying to program the prettiest graphical user interface when the real goal is study movement algorithms. All game assignments should directly relate to course outcomes.
- scaffold by either having students program small parts of an existing game or through using a game framework.
- allow creativity in assignments.
- encourage risk taking from students, but know when to pull them back.
- use games in a variety of ways.
- consider gender when planning assignments.
- consider having a special CS1-CS3 section concentrating on development through the use of games if there are enough enrolled students. If not, then use games in a portion of CS1-CS3 courses.
- leave enough time for learning a framework or planning assignments with games.
- rigorously assess the introduction of games into a course in order to make sure that the appropriate course outcomes are being met.

Games may be used in three different ways in an introductory course and not all uses of games need to be complex.

Students may learn through:
- programming a game
- playing a game
- the analysis of elements in a game

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

The author noted that while using games in an introductory course may be very successful, there are potential pitfalls that need to be avoided.

Here are some of the potential problems that may occur when trying to introduce games as an application area into computer science courses:
- Game technology fails
- Not everybody likes games
- Games aren’t serious
- Not enough time

Bayliss stated, “There are several questions that we believe are of primary importance when deciding whether or not to use games in the classroom.

1. Is the teacher of the class willing to do the extra preparation for using games and does the teacher have the necessary time to prepare for using games?
2. Are games being used to learn a certain concept or are they being used primarily to engage students and get them interested in the field of computer science?
3. Is the school environment conducive towards using games in order to teach concepts?”

If the teacher of the course has minimal preparation time, then the author stated that it is better to hold off on using games or to use simple games that are well known. Students invariably find out when a teacher does not understand a game concept.

Some school environments are more conducive to using games in order to teach concepts and some are less so. It is important to assess learning very carefully when comparing game and nongame assignments. It is possible that a poorly planned game assignment will actually perform worse than a non-game assignment.

My Thoughts

Indeed, I have experienced some of these benefits as well as problems first hand when I’ve attempted to add a few games to the assignments for my introductory programming course.

An example: We use C++ now, but before this, we used Visual Basic to introduce programming. My, oh my, our students could create the most magnificent forms! They were beautiful and had so many intricate details, but can you guess? These beautiful forms did nothing. The students spent so much time on the form; they did not actually complete the programming portion of the project. If they did begin the programming, often times it was incomplete. What a disappointment. Only when they took the second level programming course (console-based C++) did they actually learn how to program.

As I continue to work through the redesign of the curriculum of the introduction to programming course, I’ll certainly heed the advice of the author.

If you’ve experienced any of these, please let me know what you thought worked well and what you needed to change in order to get the problems to be a minimum. Your experience would be fascinating to hear!

Reference:

Bayliss, J.D., (2006), “Using Games in Introductory Courses: Tips From the Trenches”, Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education Publication. Web Site: http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/1510000/1508989/p337-bayliss.pdf?key1=1508989&key2=8187859321&coll=GUIDE&dl=GUIDE&CFID=30881536&CFTOKEN=16402446