Level Down: Using Games as a Teaching Tool for Low-Level Computer Science

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorAycock, John
dc.contributor.authorWright, Hannah
dc.contributor.committeememberWong, Nelson
dc.contributor.committeememberReardon, Joel
dc.date2021-11
dc.date.accessioned2021-08-03T20:28:22Z
dc.date.available2021-08-03T20:28:22Z
dc.date.issued2021-07-23
dc.description.abstractGame-based learning has had promising results for a variety of different topics; however, for computer science education in particular, its applications have mostly focused on high-level concepts such as program flow and the control structures that modify it. Considering that students are known to struggle with low-level topics, the goal of this thesis is to level down game-based learning by applying it to lower-level concepts—this is accomplished by designing, building, and evaluating two original games. The first game is the physical card game Mermaids and Narwhals, which is meant to teach binary manipulations such as shifts and rotations with broader applications in computational thinking; it was evaluated through a gameplay simulation that modelled the game's behaviour under different conditions. The second game is Binary Bubbles, which is a digital bubble shooter game designed to help students practice their Boolean/bitwise logic operations; this game was evaluated through a large two-group, pre-test post-test survey. Overall, this thesis contributes to a promising area of research that has been relatively unexplored in related literature.en_US
dc.identifier.citationWright, H. (2021). Level Down: Using Games as a Teaching Tool for Low-Level Computer Science (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/39055
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/113688
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultyScienceen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjecteducational gamesen_US
dc.subjectserious gamesen_US
dc.subjectcomputer science gamesen_US
dc.subjectlow-levelen_US
dc.subjectbinaryen_US
dc.subjectBoolean logicen_US
dc.subjectcomputer science educationen_US
dc.subjectgame designen_US
dc.subjectSOTLen_US
dc.subjectgame-based learningen_US
dc.subject.classificationEducationen_US
dc.subject.classificationEducation--Sciencesen_US
dc.titleLevel Down: Using Games as a Teaching Tool for Low-Level Computer Scienceen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineComputer Scienceen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (MSc)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrueen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
ucalgary_2021_wright_hannah.pdf
Size:
24.75 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Thesis
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2.62 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Open Theses and Dissertations