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CENGO: A Web-Based Serious Game to Increase the Programming Knowledge Levels of Computer Engineering Students

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Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement (EuroSPI 2019)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1060))

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Abstract

In recent years there has been an increased use of serious games to help increase the level of knowledge and experience of individuals working in different domains. In particular serious games for educational purposes have been used in many domains including software engineering and computer science [1]. Hence, this study proposes a quantitative research approach to increase the programming knowledge levels of the first-year undergraduate students at computer engineering departments. For this aim, a responsive web platform was developed to teach the syntax and logic of the C programming language by using game elements. This environment provided students with an ability to independently investigate the C programming language continuously since the platform is always accessible. To better understand the effectiveness of the designed environment, 10 first-year computer engineering students were selected as a pilot experimental group. According to the results obtained from the user tests, this game can be used as an educational tool, which supports the traditional training methods, to increase the knowledge levels of students about the syntax and logic of the C programming language.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Engineering, Hasan Kalyoncu University, Gaziantep, Turkey

    Ulas Gulec

  2. Department of Computer Engineering, Çankaya University, Ankara, Turkey

    Murat Yilmaz

  3. Command Control Applications Group, ICterra Information and Communication Technologies, Ankara, Turkey

    Alihan Dogus Yalcin

  4. School of Computing, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Rory V. O’Connor & Paul M. Clarke

  5. Lero, The Irish Software Engineering Research Center, Limerick, Ireland

    Rory V. O’Connor & Paul M. Clarke

Authors
  1. Ulas Gulec
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  2. Murat Yilmaz
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  3. Alihan Dogus Yalcin
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  4. Rory V. O’Connor
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  5. Paul M. Clarke
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ulas Gulec .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Lorit Consultancy, Edinburgh, UK

    Alastair Walker

  2. School of Computing, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Rory V. O'Connor

  3. I.S.C.N. GesmbH, Graz, Austria

    Richard Messnarz

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Gulec, U., Yilmaz, M., Yalcin, A.D., O’Connor, R.V., Clarke, P.M. (2019). CENGO: A Web-Based Serious Game to Increase the Programming Knowledge Levels of Computer Engineering Students. In: Walker, A., O'Connor, R., Messnarz, R. (eds) Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement. EuroSPI 2019. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1060. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28005-5_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28005-5_18

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-28004-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-28005-5

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