compiler integration into computer science learning games

Compiler Integration into Computer Science Learning Games

Amanda Chaffinkatla@wulfkub.com

Advisor: Dr. Tiffany Barnestbarnes2@uncc.edu

What is Game2Learn?

Games Senior Projects &

Master’s Thesis Challenging, creative,

innovative RPGs and puzzle

games

Students Undergraduates Veteran Mentors

(Ph. D. & Masters)

Learning Computing &

programming concepts

Learning tools

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HypothesisStudents who play a learning game where

They can write and compile code inside the game

Will effectively learn computing conceptsStudents who make a learning game

where other students write code will Learn the coding concepts better Be able to teach the concepts

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Game Concept

re·cur·sion (rĭ-kûr'zhən)

–noun Mathematics, Computers

See recursion

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EleMental: The Recurrence

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Video

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Video

(Thanks to YouTube for hosting)

Code Interface – Close Up

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Pilot Study DesignPilot Study

Current CS 2214 and 2215 students recruited via the professor

Study consists of – Demographic survey & pre-test Play game Post test & survey

Data logged by game and automatically (non secure) FTPed

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Study Demographics16 participants1 non computing major1 freshman, 1 sophomore, 10 juniors, 3

seniors, and 1 post Baccalaureate 13 men, 3 women5 casual gamers, 4 hardcore, 7 neither

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Pre & Post Test

MAIN

getProduct()

getProduct()

getProduct()

1) getProduct(3)

2) getProduct()

3) getProduct()

4) result =

5) result = 2

6) result =

public int getProduct(int num) {

int result;if (num == 1) { result = 1;

} else

{ result = num * getProduct(num - 1); }

return result;}

1.What is the value passed to getProduct() in step 2? Answer = 2

2.What is the value of 'result' at step 6?Answer = 6

What is the value passed to getProduct() in step 2?

What is the value of 'result' at step 6?

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Pre to Posttest Learning Gains

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Pretest

Posttest

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Favorite Aspects of EleMental?

In Game Coding18%

Visualization39%

Education24%

Hints12%

Game Play7%

In Game Coding

Visualization

Education

Hints

Game Play

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Traditional Vs. Game Assignments

Neutral5%

Game73%

Traditional20%

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Study Quotes

“The fact that I write my own code to make the game work.”

“Gaming assignments are better because a lot of people enter

computer science wanting to do things like gaming, and are disappointed because all they get to do in the first few assignments is write code to calculate tax on different stuff.”

“I liked the whole experience of walking through the paths and then

typing the code and then doing it again for repetition.”

“Finding C# is very similar to Java.”

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What the Developers Learned Code concepts – abstraction, recursion,

Forms, polymorphism, CodeDom, Compilers

Agile development – rapid iterations through software cycle

Good code no substitute for proper design!

Parsing is HARD!

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Future Study Hypothesis – students who play EleMental: The

Recurrence with access to the in game compiler will show significantly higher learning gains than a comparison group that plays without the compiler. Crossover study –

• Half play the game with compiler

• Half play without

• Swap

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Future Engine Work Level Creation currently at 5 hours for 2 people Database Address Engine Concerns

Direction Indicators Reconnect XP to HUD Bug Fixes

Expansions into other data structures Heaps Lists Stacks

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Thank You!

Amanda Chaffin & Dr. Tiffany Barnes

katla@wulfkub.com

unc Charlotte

This work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation GrantsNo. CNS-0552631 and CNS-0540523, IIS-0757521, and the UNC Charlotte Diversity in Information Technology Institute.

Engine Components

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CompilerControls Architecture

Challenge Objects Flow

Event System Architecture

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Events : XML SettingsEach Event has

TypeID Parameters Triggers

HUD Flow

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Heads Up Display Object Library

Human

Stack Event

Engine

Game Event Handler

Dialogue Event

HUD Map Event

Screen Object

TextDisplay : ScreenObjectValueDisplay : ScreenObjectImageDisplay : ScreenObject

List<TextDisplay>List<ValueDisplay> List<ImageDisplay>

- Initialize- Update- AddDisplay- Draw

DrawInitialize &Update

Manages scriptedHUD Events

Creates and UpdatesHuman Specific Objects