Digital Games for Computing Education: What Are the Benefits?

  1. Giani Petri 12
  2. Christiane Gresse von Wangenheim 2
  3. Adriano Ferreti Borgatto 2
  4. Alejandro Calderón 3
  5. Mercedes Ruiz 3
  1. 1 Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil
  2. 2 Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
    info

    Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

    Florianópolis, Brasil

    ROR https://ror.org/041akq887

  3. 3 University of Cádiz, Spain
Libro:
Handbook of Research on Immersive Digital Games in Educational Environments

Editorial: IGI Global

ISBN: 9781522557906

Año de publicación: 2019

Páginas: 35-62

Tipo: Capítulo de Libro

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-5790-6 GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAcceso abierto editor

Resumen

Digital games are considered an effective and efficient instructional strategy for computing education. However, there are few empirical studies providing sound evidence on the benefits of such educational games. In this respect, the objective of this chapter is to present a comprehensive analysis in order to summarize empirical evidence on the benefits of digital games used as an instructional strategy for computing education. The analysis is based on data collected from 21 case studies that use the MEEGA model, the most commonly used model for educational games' evaluation, evaluating 9 different games, involving a population of 344 students. The results indicate that digital games can yield a positive effect on the learning of computing, providing a pleasant and engaging experience to the students and motivating them to study. These results may guide instructors in the selection of educational games as instructional methods and guide game creators with respect to the development of new games.