Effects of blending digital games into traditional lecture-based learning on university students' programming learning achievement

Abstract

© The Authors, 2019. All Rights Reserved. Learning programming is a difficult course because the students need to remember the various type of program's syntax, create complicated commands, and solve the errors that difficult to understand. Therefore using modern technology such as online learning, social media and educational games may support students to learn to programme. In this study, computer programming games, which are educational computer games simulating the compiler working with the scenarios of daily human life, were employed in the new approach called a blended learning digital game. The approach was designed by integrating traditional lecture-based learning model and the educational computer game. Quasi-experimental research was conducted to examine the effectiveness of the proposed approach by comparing to the traditional lecture-based learning approach. This research examined the learning achievement of male and female students who learn in different environments. This was based on the blended learning digital game approach and the traditional lecture-based learning approach. An analysis of 94 university students shows that using the game as a cognitive tool in part of the traditional lecture-based learning had significantly positive of C programming language achievement. While the new approach can support the students to learn C programming in both genders, it also supports the notion that students can achieve C programming language performance through the game, mainly when using the traditional lecture-based learning environment.