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Lightbot: A constructivism approach for learning Function in the Introductory Programing Course
Elizabeth Vidal31, Eveling Castro32, Marco Aedo33, Alfredo Paz34, Alberto García35
Abstract
Educators have been trying to motivate students in their introductory programming courses because there are key abstract concepts that are not easy to teach, like functions; that’s why we believe that the visual nature of game-oriented approach to teaching abstract concepts is more effective for students. In this paper, we describe our experience in the use of Lightbot to increase student engagement and understanding when learning functions, for which we had a group of students who learned using conventional lectures while another learned with Lightbot. Assessment indicated that students in the experiment group registered significantly higher grades.
Keywords: Game, robot, function, programming, constructivism.
Introduction
The difficulty in understanding abstract concepts and the current teaching method based on traditional lectures with low participation of students in class, generate low motivation and consequently the lack of interest in learning computer programming. Some of these approaches are based on the use and integration of technology in learning; for this reason, the current students, also known as digital natives, have a natural acceptance of technology and the use of it in education contributes significantly to an increased motivation in students (Piteira & Hadad, 2011).
On the other hand, constructivism proposes a paradigm where teaching is perceived and carried out as a dynamic, participatory and interactive student process; in this sense, pedagogy is applied as a didactic concept in action-oriented teaching. According to the expressed by Jean Piaget (Schunk, 2012), students need stimulating environments that allow them to explore actively and include practical activities, facilitating the active construction of knowledge. In order to help the increase of engagement and the interest in learning functions, in this paper we present a web-based educational game: Lightbot; through its use, students discover knowledge and learn while having fun playing. The game is integrated and aligned to introduce concepts from the ACM “Software Development Fundamentals/Fundamentals Programming Concepts/Functions” (Association for Computing Machinery, 2013). Likewise, this article is organized as follows: section two shows Lighbot main characteristics and the experience, section three describes the research methods and the initial results, and finally we present our conclusions.
Lightbot
Description
Lightbot is an educational game with 11 levels with the objective to program a small robot to light up all the blue blocks on a board. This objective is achieved by giving the robot a series of instructions from a limited set of visual commands: forward, turn right, turn left, jump, light, function1, and function2 (Figure 1, a) in a finite instruction space called Main Method (Figure 1, b). As you progress in the levels, the Lightbot challenge increases too and the Main Method is not enough, so students require to use more sophisticated combinations of commands like functions (Figure 1, c).
Figure 1.
Lightbot commands and Instruction Space
Source: the authors.
The experience
Lightbot has been used since 2015 in the introductory programing course at Universidad Nacional de San Agustín, only in one laboratory session. However, we implemented two Lightbot assignments: the first one focuses on the Main Method which can only hold 12 instructions and is related to levels 1 to 5. In the second assignment (levels 6 to 11) students discover that the Main Method is too short to solve level challenges, so they must group instructions in two different functions using function1 and function2 which can be called from the Main Method using f1 and f2 commands; therefore, they discover by themselves that they can call the same function more than once (Figure 2). After the use of Lightbot all the students start programming with Java; the topic of function is included in the third week of classes.
Figure 2.
Lightbot Assignment 2: Creating functions and calling functions
Source: the authors.
The research method
Quasi experimental -study
To evaluate the effectiveness of using Lightbot, in 2018 we carried out a quasi-experimental study with 80 students: an experimental group (40 students who used Lightbot) and a control group (40 students who were not exposed to Lightbot). So, student’s learning outcomes were measured using pre-test and post-test. We hypothesized that:
H1: Students who used Lightbot will learn functions significantly better than students who do not.
In order to prove the hypothesis, we used a T-Student test for two related samples, verifying the criterion of the normal distribution of the data (through the Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests and Shapiro-Wilk). The criteria to decide was: if the probability obtained P-value <= alpha (5%), H1 is accepted; if the probability obtained P-Value> alpha (5%) H1 is rejected.
Results and discussion
Table 1 summarizes the averages of Pre and Post-tests, observing that the P-Value obtained in the control group does not show a significant difference between the obtained grades. On the other hand, the experimental group presents a P-Value less than 5%, which shows a significant difference in the grades obtained after having used Lightbot.
Table 1. Pre-Test and Post Test Evaluation. Grades ranged from 0 to 20
| Control Group | |||
| Function Evaluation 40 students | Pre-Test evaluation | Post-Test evaluation | P-Value |
| 11.75 | 12.78 | 0.380 | |
| Experimental Group | |||
| Function Evaluation 40 student | 10.19 | 16.48 | 0.000 |
Source: the authors.
Conclusions
The results of using Lightbot and the feedback received from students were very positive because they seemed to enjoy the game and the challenge to finish it. The transition to the topic of functions in Java seems to be very smooth since students are already familiar with the idea of a function, so from the data analysis we highlight the fact that Lightbot helped to teach the concept of functions. Finally, another interesting finding is that students pointed out that using Lightbot before learning functions was very helpful to understand programing functions with Java later.
References
Piteira, M. & Haddad., X. (2011). Innovate in your program computer class: an approach based on a serious game. In ACM Digital Library, Proceedings of the 2011 Workshop on Open Source and Design of Communication, ACM (49-54).
Schunk, D.H. (2012). Learning theories an educational perspective [sixth edition]. Pearson.
Association for Computing Machinery. (2013). Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula and IEEE Computer Society. Computer Science Curricula 2013: Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Computer Science. Overview report.
Videogame design for the inclusion of people with disabilities
Luis Escorcia, Daniel Sánchez36 Narwhalcorn, Bogotá, Colombia
Abstract
Rehabilitation is a complicated process designed to help injured persons who suffer or will probably suffer from a disability, to reach and maintain optimal performance in their interaction with their environment (Ameratunga et al., 2009). While this process is taking place, an important component for the emotional stability of the patient is being able to relate and interact with the same things as the rest of the population, for example, video games. Despite the efforts of the developers of exergames, educational games or re-training, many games that come to market are not designed to fit the population in a condition of disability at some point of its broad spectrum of pathologies. If they are taken into account, patients would be allowed to play famous titles at the time and live similar experiences to healthy people.
Keywords: Design, development, disability, health, rehabilitation, therapy, video games.
Introduction
Nowadays, video games have a huge impact on the people who play them; many of these users are children that are getting smaller and smaller and playing video games can help them to interact with virtual worlds, which results in emotional and intellectual connections that can have therapeutic implications in the hands of a trained and informed therapist (Franco, 2016). On the other hand, though until relatively recently it was believed that the development and recovery of the brain stopped in adulthood, there is evidence that shows that the brain can change to adapt to various circumstances, not only during childhood and adolescence, but also during adulthood and even in situations of brain injury, which means that the brain is flexible and modifiable; this implies that although therapy techniques can be applied to all people (with obvious exceptions depending on the degree of injury or disability), in the early stages of development it is much easier to achieve a rapid improvement (Garcés & Suárez, 2014).
Therapy process using video games
Physical therapy
The physiotherapy treatment through exercises is the central point of the whole therapeutic plan with the objective of reorganizing motor skills of the nervous system, creating increasingly advanced postural, tone and movement patterns and following the sequences of normal motor skills development from prone position to standing and walking. Thus, improving the function of the upper limbs is considered a high priority in patients with neurological disorders or altered functions of the locomotor system (such as reaching, grasping and manipulating fine objects) and establishing useful movements to gain independence in daily tasks, decreasing spasticity, strengthening the muscles, avoiding and treating contractures or vicious attitudes and involuntary movements, all conditioned by a degree of active collaboration from the patient, on which the results depend to a great extent; for this, video games are the best option to obtain a playful component in rehabilitation.
According to the above, video games developed to achieve therapeutic objectives must have interfaces that allow a scan of the extremities or parts of the body to be rehabilitated without them generating a greater effort for the patient, for instance, in case of pathologies such as muscle atrophy which requires from the patient to perform a muscle overstress, minimizing the risk of Repetitive Stress Injuries (World Health Organization, 2013). Although repetitive movements are suggested in therapies that grow in frequency or difficulty as therapy progresses, games should consider to be developed as a suite of mini-games or at least that seek the implementation of multiple dynamics that include the pathology to be treated.
Mental therapy
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common disorder that affects the ability to stay focused, self-controlled and other important skills for the daily life. It is caused by differences in the anatomy and connections of the brain, and it is often presented by members of the same family; new neuroimaging techniques carried out by the Institutes of Psychiatry show that children brains with ADHD have a maturational delay in the development of some cognitive functions, areas related to attention and executive functions such as inhibition that act on self-control, which could be the origin of this disorder. According to this study, it has been demonstrated with imaging techniques that there are more affected areas in the connections between the frontal lobe and the basal ganglia, important for some executive and attention functions (Game accessibility guidelines, 2019).
Therefore, a component that stands out in the therapies, and in fact, in any type of repetitive work, is motivation which usually reinforces, diminishes and maintains behaviors, whether in a psychomotor or behavioral form (Blog NeuronUP, 2020). Many of the behavioral therapies involve drugs that are administered to the patient to suppress certain behaviors, but that can have repercussions in several body systems and, in most cases, generate a disorder on the patient; for this and other reasons, the Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020 of the World Health Organization (2013) promotes accessible options and non-pharmacological therapies for young patients (Blandon et al., 2016). In order to this, neurofeedback (Biofeedback applied with neurophysiological signals) video games are becoming popular to induce states of meditation and relaxation through the detection of oscillatory rhythms, specifically Theta and Beta recorded from the frontal lobe, so having a measurement in real time, in situ and with multiple variables from the game becomes viable and it would give a deep point of view of the patient disorder degree (Dager System, 2019).
Analysis of disability and accessibility
In terms of accessibility, although many video games have begun to adopt certain characteristics to allow more and more people to enjoy the content of these, most designers do not take into account people with disabilities, or failing that, when they take them into account it is in a period in which the development is very advanced and where including this becomes expensive or even impossible without damaging the game completely. Because of this, it is necessary to think about those people with disabilities from the beginning of development.
Hearing impairment
People who experience hearing loss tend to lose a lot of information that could be extremely relevant within the boundaries of the game, so adding subtitles should be contemplates as a priority and as a default option, considering they should be easy to read in a way that contrasts well with different backgrounds; words in white color with a black background are always a good solution, because the user divides its attention between these and everything else that is happening on the screen. Moreover, they should also be large and indicate the important sounds of the game (Material Design, 2019), so adding visual aids in an overlay that visualizes these sounds will also help the player to know where they come from. Above all, it is important allowing the user to modify the subtitles as their convenience, things like font size, background color or even disable them.
Motor disabilities
Video games are based on physical interaction, so players with these disabilities have difficulties when playing certain titles, especially those that involve precision, synchronization, strength or endurance. Fortunately, today there are already accessible controls in the market as we can see with the adaptive Microsoft control for Xbox One and PC; although this is a great help it is not a definitive solution because there are still barriers within the game. For this, allowing the player to have more flexibility on how the game is controlled is imperative; options like remapping controls and allowing players to adjust control sensitivity, give players the ability to use it as they see it more convenient. For instance, though options like control vibration allow designers generate great feedback, for certain people it may mean difficulty to hold the control, so adding an option to adjust this and even remove it completely should be contemplated by designers.
Visual impairment and color blindness
Working with color blindness is certainly not that difficult but it sure takes time; for this, designers can make use of filters that simulate the visual environment of the game and once observed the combination of colors that may produce problems, work around them. To avoid the use of color to communicate information, it is necessary using of visual tricks to highlight the critical parts of the game using shapes, symbols and animations. Now, in terms of visual impairment, good subtitles are applied as well as with hearing impairment, plus a high contrast option is necessary so that critical parts of the game can stand out against the background (Bannick, 2019), considering a good soundscape so that the player does not lose valuable information such as enemies or objects.
Cognitive disability
Many people feel overwhelmed by the high level of visual activity that occurs on the screen, as this affects a wide range of sensory processing problems, even reaching limits such as photosensitive epilepsy; although solving this is not something difficult to achieve, it is a matter of finding what features involve a sensory load and allowing players to turn them off or reduce them. In terms of learning difficulty and dyslexia, players may experience difficulties in obtaining written information, so allowing them to advance at their own pace gives them time to read and understand the text that for the designer may be something trivial.
In addition to this, receiving, processing and acting on the information provided, becomes extremely complicated for certain people, so using simple language, optional tips, help windows and pointing out locations or objects reminds the user of the actions that can be taken to advance properly, and filtering these signals to not load the player with information that may be unnecessary at the moment. Finally, allowing players to reduce the difficulty of the game becomes a great help as it gives them more time to solve problems and the opportunity to make mistakes before a “Game Over”; if designers want to go even further they can allow all the characteristics of the game to be modifiable like the damage of the enemy, health points of the main character, the frequency of attack, among others.
Celeste: case of extending the scope
As mentioned before, more recent games have given greater weight to accessibility; the case of Celeste is one of the most exposed, a platform game that incorporates a mode of assistance. It is important to highlight the name of the mode because many players do not use them by their name, since they come to feel inferior only because of their condition and this should not be the case. Therefore, Celeste’s mode of assistance allows players to modify the rules of the game in order to reduce their difficulty, which includes options such as reducing the speed of the game, granting invincibility or endless resistance and even skipping complete chapters of the game.
Conclusions
Accessibility options allow designers to trust that the player will make the right decisions to play the game in the best possible way without ruining the game experience, so designers should avoid providing critical information aimed just at one sense; additionally, it will always be better and necessary to obtain feedback from people with disabilities or to work with consulting groups (BBC, 2018). Finally, and as a general rule, the more control players can have in the game, the closer the industry will be to make sure that as many people as possible can benefit from all that video games can offer.
References
Ameratunga, S., Officer, A., Temple, B. y Tin Tin, S. (2009). Rehabilitación de niños lesionados. Organización Mundial de la Salud. https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/87/5/09-057067/es/
Bannick, J. (1 August 2019). Guidelines for Building Blind-Accessible Computer Games. Blind Computer Games. http://www.blindcomputergames.com/guidelines/guidelines.html.
BBC. (April of 2018). Subtitle guidelines. http://bbc.github.io/subtitle-guidelines/
Blandon, D., Munoz, J., Lopez, D. & Gallo, O. (2016). Influence of a BCI neurofeedback videogame in children with ADHD. Quantifying the brain activity through an EEG signal processing dedicated toolbox. In IEEE Xplore, 2016 IEEE 11th Colombian Computing Conference (CCC) Proceedings.
Blog NeuronUP. (26 de mayo de 2020). 10 Actividades de rehabilitación cognitiva para niños con TDAH. https://blog.neuronup.com/actividades-de-rehabilitacion-cognitiva-para-ninos-con-tdah/
Dager System. (1 August 2019). Consulting with dagers, the value of accessibility. https://dagersystem.com/?s=consulting+with+dagers
Franco, G. (2016). Videogames and Therapy: A Narrative Review of Recent Publication and Application to Treatment. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, (pp.-pp). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01085
Game accessibility guidelines. (1 August 2019). A straightforward reference for inclusive game design. http://gameaccessibilityguidelines.com/
Garcés Vieira, M., & Suárez Escudero, J. (2014). Neuroplasticity: Biochemical and neurophysiological aspects. CES Medicina, 28(1), 119-131.
Material design. (1 August 2019). Color and contrast. https://material.io/design/usability/accessibility.html#color-contrast
World Health Organization. (2013). Action Plan on Mental Health 2013-2020.
