Sokoban: A Game-Based Learning Game for Enhancing Programming Skill Among Undergraduate Students in Malaysia

Abstract

Programming is a necessary skill for students in computer science-related fields, but teaching it to first-year undergraduates can be challenging. Traditional classroom-based learning and teaching methods are insufficient, especially when it comes to programming. Game-based learning has emerged as an effective way for students to learn programming, even though there is currently a lack of empirical evidence in the literature. Therefore, this research aims to develop a Game-based Learning (game-based learning) Computer Game that can effectively teach programming to undergraduate students. The game will be expertly reviewed by three game designers and three programming lecturers to ensure its effectiveness. The study will involve a quasi-experiment, in which students will play the game while assessing their understanding of programming. One programming module (Object-Oriented Programming) will be covered and two batches of Year 1 Bachelor of Software Engineering (Educational Software) students from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris will participate in this research. All participated students are randomly divided into control and focus groups. Data collection was according to A quasi-experiment with a control group that was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of Sokoban in learning programming. A comparative analysis using ANOVA method on the efficiency of learning programming between game-based learning approach and existing learning approach (among control group and experimental group) revealed great significance [F = 6.6296, p <.05]. Therefore, it can be concluded that the Sokoban computer game was effective in teaching programming to undergraduate year one students. These findings have significant implications for the future development of game-based learning games to aid undergraduate students in learning topics related to programming paradigm. The results suggest that game-based learning games could have a positive impact on programming education in Malaysian tertiary institutions. The knowledge gained from this study could contribute to determining the importance of the game-based learning approach for other ICT-related modules. The proposed game-based learning game is beneficial to academics, industry professionals and students in effectively learning programming.