Effects of Competitive and Cooperative Classroom Response Systems on Quiz Performance and Programming Skills in a Video Game Programming Course

Abstract

Classroom response systems (CRSs) are tools that allow all students to respond to teacher questions individually through a software platform during lectures. Some widely used CRSs, like Kahoot or Classtime, include gamified designs that transform teacher questions into competitive or cooperative challenges in an attempt to make their usage more enjoyable. A question arises as to what differences may exist in the effects of competitive and cooperative gamified CRSs on student's test performance and learning. This study aims to analyze those differences in the context of a pre-graduate programming university course, which introduces students to video game programming. We present a quasi-experiment with 69 students assigned to two experimental and one control group. We examine between-group differences in CRSs' quiz results and programming skills when using competitive, cooperative, and neutral CRSs. An initial analysis suggests that quiz results are significantly lower when using competitive CRSs, in contrast with cooperative and neutral CRSs, but that there are no significant differences in the programming skill acquisition, considering practical assignments, as well as midterm and final examinations.