Title: A mobile game for learning programming: students' reactions in view of their attitudes, experiences and expectations

Authors: Jakub Swacha; Karolina Muszyńska; Magdalena Kowalska; Agnieszka Miluniec; Rytis Maskeliūnas; Robertas Damaševičius; Audrius Kulikajevas; Tomas Blažauskas

Addresses: Department of Information Technology in Management, University of Szczecin, ul. Cukrowa 8, 71-004 Szczecin, Poland ' Department of Information Technology in Management, University of Szczecin, ul. Cukrowa 8, 71-004 Szczecin, Poland ' Department of Information Technology in Management, University of Szczecin, ul. Cukrowa 8, 71-004 Szczecin, Poland ' Department of Information Technology in Management, University of Szczecin, ul. Cukrowa 8, 71-004 Szczecin, Poland ' Faculty of Informatics, Kaunas University of Technology, K. Donelaičio 73, 44249 Kaunas, Lithuania ' Faculty of Informatics, Kaunas University of Technology, K. Donelaičio 73, 44249 Kaunas, Lithuania ' Faculty of Informatics, Kaunas University of Technology, K. Donelaičio 73, 44249 Kaunas, Lithuania ' Faculty of Informatics, Kaunas University of Technology, K. Donelaičio 73, 44249 Kaunas, Lithuania

Abstract: Numerous studies support the use of educational games in teaching, especially in the case of difficult subjects such as computer programming. In this paper, we contribute to this agenda by reporting students' reactions to training featuring a new mobile educational game that supports learning JavaScript programming. We employ technology-enhanced training effectiveness model to investigate the impact of students' prior experiences, expectations, and attitudes on their reactions to training. The obtained results bring several novel insights on the role of these factors, including a negative (rather than positive) impact of experience with video games on expectations regarding the app or a small (rather than large) positive impact of experience with video games on reactions to training. The findings can be useful in designing new educational games and putting them into educational practice.

Keywords: game-based learning; programming education; m-learning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMLO.2023.131864

International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation, 2023 Vol.17 No.3, pp.388 - 405

Received: 20 Aug 2021
Accepted: 10 Nov 2021
Published online: 04 Jul 2023 *

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