Dive In! Computer World Action: A Platform Game for Secondary School Students to Learn Boolean Operations in Computer Science

Abstract

The power of video games in education is becoming more prominent because children and young adolescents nowadays spend more time than ever in the digital world. Previous studies have investigated the effectiveness of using games for learning concepts in computer science and even computer programming at the secondary level. However, games for learning concepts related to mathematics in computer science have not been thoroughly investigated. In this paper, we introduce Dive In! Computer World Action, a platform game that allows players to learn Boolean operations in the context of computer science through fast-paced gameplay. The importance and usage of Boolean operations are also conveyed via in-game storytelling. The results of the playtesting suggested that Dive In! Computer World Action was effective in learning Boolean operations and related concepts. The participants generally welcomed the game-based approach. The nature of platform games also allows us further expand the gameplay for learning other mathematical operations and concepts in the context of computer science in the future.