Inspecting quality of games designed for learning programming

Abstract

Educational games are specific piece of slow technology that enables students to enhance their competences through fun and play. Taking into account their features, games are widely used in diverse educational settings, including programming. This paper discusses findings of the empirical study that was carried out with an objective to examine quality of two educational games meant for learning programming concepts. Participants in the study were students from two Croatian higher education institutions. Subjective data was collected with pre- and post-use online questionnaires whereas objective data was gathered with reports in the form of in-game progress screenshots. The analysis of collected data uncovered: (1) to what extent students with different background knowledge differ in their perception of programming and attitudes towards using games for educational purposes, and (2) which pragmatic and hedonic facets of quality are relevant for the assessment of games designed for learning programming.