Received: 29 December 2017

DOI: 10.1002/cae.21968
| Accepted: 31 March 2018

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

Problem based learning associated to the development of games

for programming teaching

Valéria F. Martins1 | Ilana de Almeida Souza Concilio2 |

Marcelo de Paiva Guimarães3

1 Computing and Informatics Program,

Mackenzie Presbysterian University, São Abstract
Paulo, SP, Brazil The programming teaching faces serious challenges all over the world. Many students
2 Computer Engineering Program, FIAP
end up abandoning the Computer Science courses in their freshman years because
(Faculdade de Informática e Administração
Paulista), São Paulo, SP, Brazil they are not able to understand the concepts taught in introductory courses. On the
3 BrazilianOpen University, Federal other hand, the development of games is an opportunity for the students to perform an
University of São Paulo/Master Program of actual activity of the career and hence it may serve as an incentive to their motivation,
Faculty Campo Limpo Paulista, São Paulo,
SP, Brazil
commitment, and proactivity. This article describes a teaching approach based on the
Problem Based Learning (PBL) methodology, which is associated to the development
Correspondence of educational games to drive the programming teaching in an introductory and
Marcelo de Paiva Guimarães, Brazilian
Open University—Federal University of practical course of programming teaching. The article presents details on the
São Paulo/Master Program of Faculty approach and how it was conducted in a case study with 30 students. The article also
Campo Limpo Paulista, São Paulo, SP,
comprehends the approach's assessment, as well as the results got through the
Brazil.
Email: [email protected] evaluation survey with students and teachers.

KEYWORDS
games, learning, problem based learning, teaching

1 | INTRODUCTION different technical approaches (flowchart, pseudo-code,

structured programming, object-oriented programming,
Programming courses are essential for Computer Science graphical tools), programming languages (Java, C, C++,
students, as they are the foundation for the development of Python), and teaching strategies, each one of them with their
applications throughout the course. In general terms, these own pros and cons. A possible solution to reduce failure and
courses’ goal is to enable the students master the knowledge evasion must involve a multidimensional strategy that covers
about transforming a problem in a set of well-defined steps all educational aspects (technological, pedagogic, and
and then code them in a computer programming language. organizational). However, regardless the way the course is
Notwithstanding the several studies on how to improve the taught, failure and evasion are most likely to fall when
programming teaching carried out during the last de- students commit to the course's contents. The search for a
cade [1,3,27,36], those courses present high failure and solution should intensify over the next couple of years, for
evasion rates [8,14,32,33]. Among the causes identified for there is a growing demand for Computer Science profes-
this problem are students’ low motivation, lack of abstract sionals and a drop in the number of new students in the
thinking capacity, low knowledge on Math and planning area [15,34].
difficulties [23]. It is expected from the Computer Science professionals to
There is nowadays no consensus on how to deliver those be problem solving oriented. To achieve that, in addition to
courses, especially the introductory ones, as authors propose the technical knowledge, they need the skills for teamwork,
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team leadership, effective communication, mathematical The core aspect of PBL is the use of real-world situations
thinking, adaptation to new contexts and problems, and taken from the professional daily routine as a way to stimulate
proactivity in seeking solutions [31]. This article has as its students to seek the theoretical and practical framework to
core objective to present the use of Problem Based Learning solve the problem. There are other fundamental elements,
(PBL) together with Computer Science professionals’ real, such as: the problem definition precedes the theoretical
daily activities, such as game development. PBL is an discussion; the problem requires a formal process to reach the
alternative educational methodology when compared to the solution; the problem resolution demands teamwork from the
traditional approaches, aiming for the formation of future students; the problem requires a self-regulated, autonomous
professionals who are more independent, critical thinkers, study from the students. The challenge is, therefore, to make
problem solvers, autonomous learners, as well as team the students independent since the beginning of the course, to
members. On the other hand, the development of digital address, and investigate the professional challenge that was
games in the Computer Science courses seems to be a good set. This method provides the student with a quick
way to leverage the students’ learning, as it can motivate, understanding of actual situations of the profession chosen;
awaken interest on new subjects, make learning easier, and the Computer Science students can, for example, get involved
stimulate retention of what was learned. Real-world prob- with problems pertaining to software factories and they may
lems, such as games, can motivate students in their need to deepen their theoretical/practical knowledge on those
commitment and, as a result, contribute to cut down failure problems. So, while traditional methods present the entire
and evasion rates. theory at first and only then address the practice, PBL aims to
Although PBL is present in a number of current courses, encompass theory/practice from the beginning of the
especially in the Health area, there are still challenges to teaching/learning process.
implement this method in conventional curricula, such as in PBL has been adopted in the whole curriculum of some
the Computer Science area [18]. Among the courses that more courses, which is its original proposition, but also as a partial
intensely use PBL are Software Engineering and Program- educational strategy, that is, in isolated courses within the
ming [21], but little is known on how PBL can be used as an conventional curriculum. However, even with different
alternative teaching way, with chances of reversing the proposals, the common fact remains that the problem always
current situation in Computer Science courses (regarding high precedes the theory. The original PBL method is composed by
evasion). This article's main contribution is to pursue the following steps (Figure 1):
students’ motivation and commitment using PBL associated
to the development of games. That programming course is  Step I (Introduction and problem definition): a cycle begins
conducted in an organized way and using real-world problems here with the presentation of a problem, which is analyzed
that the future professional in Computer Science will have to and defined by students in groups. Delegate definition of
face. In addition, a case study with 30 students is presented. the problem to students is relevant as far as in which it is
The remainder of the article is organized as follows: known that many professionals can not solve problems
section 2 talks about PBL, which is the educational basis of because they can not define them. After identifying the
this article; section 3 shows how PBL, along with game problem, the students, facilitated by the tutor, discuss it
development, was applied to the programming teaching; freely. In the area of Engineering or Computing teaching,
section 3 presents related works; section 4 shows our case this problem may be the development of a system that,
study; section 5 describes the evaluation methodology used in when presented, needs to have its requirements discussed;
the case study; section 6 presents the results and discussions;  Step II (Hypothesis formulation): the students discuss the
and lastly, section 7 presents the conclusions. problem and develop a hypothesis about its cause. In the
systems development area, for example, the formulated
assumptions generally refer to such questions as: what is
2 | PROBLEM BASED LEARNING the system scope; what features the system should contain;
who will be the system users; what kind of technology will
PBL is an educational methodology that uses the application be used; we have background to solve the problem;
of the contents to be learned to start, motivate and focus the  Step III (Attempt of solution with the available knowl-
acquisition of knowledge, in addition to stimulate the edge): the groups evaluate the hypothesis created,
development of professional skills and attitudes [6,9,19]. confronting them with the data found in the problem,
Even though its origin connects to Medicine teaching [10,11], and try to solve it with their previous knowledge. At this
it has been used in several areas of knowledge, including the point, it is possible to notice poor or wrong concepts about
engineering courses, [18,25,28,35] respecting each area's subjects already studied;
specificities and the nature of the work to be performed by the  Step IV (Formulation of learning points): the groups
students in the future. identify the learning points (concepts, theories, etc.)
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FIGURE 1 PBL's execution steps (adapted from [26])

necessary for the solution of the problem which was not  Step VI (Independent study): the group members perform
possible to achieve with only the existing concepts. For the activities planned in the previous step in an autonomous
example, generally, systems development area, learning way;
points are related to the technology to be used, domain of  Step VII (Information sharing in the group): each group's
the programming language, domain of the methodology for members share the results they got;
the development of the system;  Step VIII (Application of knowledge in the problem): the
 Step V (Group work planning): the groups plan the groups try to use the knowledge acquired up to that moment
activities to be performed. They define the points to be to solve the problem;
prioritized, which member will address each point, the  Step IX (Presentation of the group's solutions): building of
sources to be studied and how the results will be shared; something concrete for the solution of the problem (report,

FIGURE 2 Examples of games (a) Ancient history and (b) World War II
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TABLE 1 Questionnaire for self-assessment and process evaluation 3 | RELATED WORKS

—motivation
Questions PBL's effectiveness has been object of study in a number of
1. I came to enjoy programming more than before after attending contexts since its inception. These studies, however, suffer
this course. from a lack of quantitative analysis, which was made evident
2. I think the projects I developed in this course are more complex by the review presented by O’Grady [21], according to whom
than the ones from other courses. only 37% of 63 examined articles presented some kind of
3. I felt it was easier to deal with the project's complexity due to analysis. They mentioned in their work that many of the
the fact it was a game. negative answers to the use of PBL were tied to the lack of
4. I prefer developing projects involving games when compared to expertise with the methodology, both from teachers and
other exercises of the course. students. Kumar and Radcliffe [18] presented an article that
5. I prefer developing projects involving games to projects of other addresses the creation of such expertise. To do so, they did a
types, like registration systems, inventories, stocks, math PBL immersion workshop with scholars and decisions makers
problems, payroll, etc. of the engineering courses in order to look for situations
6. The use of challenges and competition in the lab practices has suitable for the actual use of the methodology. They presented
motivated me to perform the tasks. a quantitative analysis of the experience, in which the
participants indicated that PBL can be adopted in Engineering
as well as in Medicine. However, as already shown by other
project, blueprint, video, etc.), which is presented to the authors, they mentioned that there is the difficulty in evaluating
teacher (tutor) and other interested parties. the students, which is an extremely important issue. Pierrakos
 Step X (Self-evaluation, process, and peers evaluation): et al. [22] also sought to create that expertise by promoting a
evaluations are done on the process, the product, the group workshop whose goal was to offer some grounds and a
work, each one's own performance, and of the rest of the discussion on PBL in the Engineering teaching.
group. Polanco et al. [24] did a PBL use study in the freshman
years of an Engineering course in the Mexican University,
This way, PBL seeks motivating the student to work and which indicated that there were improvements in grades in
to learn how to learn. In addition, it makes possible for the subsequent years. Additionally, they noticed an enhance-
students to understand the kind of tasks they will deal with ment in the understanding of the course evaluated, Physics
when they become professionals. However, the methodology in that case. Korud et al. [17] observed that PBL fosters an
forces the students to work in groups and can create in-depth study of theory during electrical engineering
difficulties for those who have trouble adapting to that computerized activities in the Lviv Polytechnic National
approach. Regarding the teacher's job, the methodology can University. They did not perform a quantitative research of
impair the students’ motivation to learn basic contents, such the results, though.
as math that is not directly related to the activity but supports An alternative to generate gains in the teaching-learning
it. It also makes the students’ individual evaluations more process is the use of games, because they can bring to the
complex. It should be pointed out that PBL's or other educational context such benefits as motivation, enjoyment,
methods’ success heavily relies on the players’ (teachers and interdisciplinarity, and development of the cognitive abilities,
students) capacitation in the model. like problem solving, decision making, comparison, and

FIGURE 3 Level of knowledge on programming FIGURE 4 Previous knowledge regarding programming

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FIGURE 5 Questions 1 and 2 (Table 1)—Motivation

sorting skills, information processing, pattern recognition, In the second approach the students assume the role of
creativity, and critical thinking, in addition to developing game developers, which provides them with an opportunity of
sociability, creativity, and perseverance [4]. For Computer practice the professional activity in a very similar way to the
Science students, two approaches involving games can be real world. Fowler and Cusack [13] support that idea, but they
used. The first one, known as serious games, in which the emphasize the importance of the student keeping focus on the
students act as players, that is, they must overcome the learning activity. Barnes et al. [5] presented the Game2Learn
challenges presented collectively or individually. For exam- project, whose goal is the development of educational games,
ple, the game CodeCraft [30], which uses PBL concepts to but whose unstructured nature frustrated some students at
teach programming through structured programming puzzles first, leading the authors to develop their own planning.
designed to scaffold players through the programming The practice of using PBL as an attempt to improve
concepts, and eCity [2], which is a PBL-based city simulation, students' performance and motivation in teaching program-
addressing specific Math, Sciences, and Engineering prob- ming skills has been applied for quite some time and the
lems related to that city's growth. Vahldick et al. [29] results are positive. Kay et al. [16] compared the results of
presented a review paper that identified 40 games related to examinations of a non-PBL (1996) and a full PBL (1998)
the introductory programming course's subjects and compe- classes of basic programming, showing a substantial
tencies. So, the idea in that approach is to provide the students improvement in programming skills. They adopted PBL in
with games, that is, the students face previously established order to foster competence in computer programming using a
problems and must overcome them. modern object-oriented programming language and

FIGURE 6 Questions 3 and 4 (Table 1)—Motivation

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FIGURE 7 Questions 5 and 6 (Table 1)—Motivation

environment, ability to enhance program quality by using role of a case was to present something that requires
formal methods, ability to analyze the running time of explanation or solution, and that will lead the group to define
programs, and to produce programs with low running times, learning goals. The authors also stated that the close
ability to use recursion, critical thinking, and problem interaction with the students in the PBL sessions enabled
solving, among other goals. the teachers to identify difficulties in learning and to spot
Nuutila et al. [20] described their experience of using PBL problems in the course arrangements.
in Helsinki University of Technology, Finland. They were In 2002, a new PBL approach was introduced to the
using PBL since 1999 in one of their introductory course of BSc Information Systems at the Edge Hill College
programming courses and in 2008 the PBL was the central of Higher Education in United Kingdom [7]. There were
learning method in the Computer Science course, even though tutors and learning team coaches to help students and
it was supplemented with other methods such as program- Beaumont and Fox [7] stated that students were engaged with
ming exercises, concept maps, essays, and a portfolio. The the problems and showed considerable creativity and
goal was to help students learn Java programming language in determination to solve them.
a more integrative and motivating manner, improving the This paper differs from those above mentioned inasmuch
transfer of the knowledge to real-world situations. Students it aims for game development supported by the PBL method.
met once a week in groups to discuss real-world cases. The This way, games offer students an actual Computer Science

FIGURE 8 Questions 7 and 8 (Table 2)—Commitment

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TABLE 2 Questionnaire for self-assessment and process evaluation—commitment

Questions
7. I consider I learned (or learned more) programming in this course through game development.
8. I dedicated myself to the face-to-face classes of this course more than in other courses.
9. I dedicated more hours of study either at home or during classes interval for this course than for other courses.
10. The use of games in this course's projects motivated me to endeavor more during class than I would usually do.

professional activity, and PBL provides them with a evaluate and compare algorithmic solutions for elementary
structured tool to guide the course. It also presents and problems and to know programming structures of an
discusses the results got through a case study. imperative language and apply them in algorithms’
implementation.
When these objectives are reached the student should
4 | PBL APPLIED TO THE
be able to recognize the importance of algorithms for
PROGRAMMING TEACHING USING
problem solving, recognize the importance of the
GAME DEVELOPMENT
programming language in algorithm implementation,
recognize the programming area as an essential piece of
4.1 | The programming laboratory course
support for computational systems building, and realize
The study took place in the second semester of 2017, in a and overcome difficulties that are inherent to the
Brazilian private university located in the city of São Paulo, algorithmic thinking.
Brazil, in Computer Science courses. The course Program- This course's evaluation criteria are made of practical
ming Laboratory is composed of practical classes with 4 hr a activities performed in all the semester's classes. In
week. The classes were taught in classrooms with one addition, there is the design of two projects during the
notebook per student. This course's syllabus covers: semester, and those projects are responsible for the
presentation of programming environments; concepts and highest fraction of the grade (70%). The programming
tools for debugging and documenting programs; variables, language adopted was Python. The first project is the
constants, and types; attribution command; arithmetic and design of Role-Playing Game (RPG), by groups with
Boolean expressions; conditional commands; and repetition three to four students each. The students had freedom to
commands. choose the RPG's subject. The game should use
The course's goal is to allow the student to get acquainted conditional structure, but the design of the graphical
with the concept of computational algorithm, identifying part was not needed. Each project should also be
steps for solutions of elementary problems. To do so, it aims supplemented by a user manual and a report describing
providing the students with the conditions necessary to the game's implementation.

FIGURE 9 Questions 9 and 10 (Table 2)—Commitment

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FIGURE 10 Questions 11 and 12 (Table 3)—Proactivity

In the second project, each group should design a game  Step II: the groups, guided by the teacher, formulated a
using at least conditional structure, repetition structure and hypothesis to solve the problem given. As they had already
modularization (which is not in the syllabus). The game style researched possible topics, they needed to create an
was free (RPG, action game, board game, etc.) and it should educational game on the chosen theme that involved
contain elements such as ranking and prizing. It was also part programming topics (conditional structure and repetition
of the project the design of the manual describing the game structure, as well as modularization), game components
mechanics (rules, levels, scoring, etc.). (levels, scores, rules, etc.), and the type of game. At this
stage, design thinking techniques [12] were used to help
students’ creativity process;
4.2 | PBL applied to the programming
 Step III: once the problem was defined, the students, based
teaching
on their previous knowledge, (at this point they were
The course used PBL allied to game development. Although supposed to have already learned conditional structure and
the methodology has been applied to both projects in the repetition structure, as well as modularization's first
course, this section will present only the second one, as that concepts), tried to provide answers that could solve the
was the most complex one. The following steps were problem. In this step the teacher presented some rules to
performed as shown in Figure 1: design a game, showing the importance of discussing and
taking notes of the group's ideas first, defining the game's
 Step I: defining and understanding the problem. The groups theme, its mechanics, and the potential players’ age, as well
were free to develop any kind of game. As educational Math as setting goals to give shape to the game, including the
games were the most common ones, it was decided that the minimum number of players necessary for the game to be
game should deal with an area other than Exact Sciences, in amusing and the average time it is going to take for them to
order to train creativity. Thus, students could create games finish playing;
about Portuguese Language, Geography, History, News,  Step IV: With that knowledge, the groups defined their
etc. The students then did research on the internet to try to target audience's profile (age, education, level of knowl-
find the theme of their game, such as Egyptian History, edge of games, etc.) and the game's goal. Right after that,
Brazilian Presidents, Brazilian Geography; they investigated the game's complexity. At this point, they

TABLE 3 Questionnaire for self-assessment and process evaluation—proactivity

Questions
11. Researching about educational games helped me design the mechanics of my group's game.
12. To develop the game, in addition to what was learned in class, I searched for more information and functionalities in order to make the game
more complete.
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FIGURE 11 Question 13 (Table 4)—Positive aspects FIGURE 12 Question 14 (Table 4)—Negative aspects

realized that they needed to deepen their knowledge, 5 | EVALUATION METHODOLOGY

mainly about modularization, in order to partition the game
coding; As described in Step X (section 4.2), the evaluation was split
 Step V: based on the problem and with the new in three stages, which will be presented in the following sub-
knowledge gathered, the groups defined each student's sections.
activities. In this case, they planned the actions the game
should comprehend: the game's subject, its mechanics,
the scoring, etc., as well as who would be in charge of 5.1 | Peer evaluation
each action; Peer evaluation occurred spontaneously among students.
 Step VI: each student did the study and research on subjects When evaluating a project (game), each student got a form
as planned. At this point, it became evident the need of with the following evaluation criteria and grades ranging from
teacher's support and of supplementary educational 0 to 10: (1) plot; (2) creativity; (3) information clarity; (4)
material in addition to what was covered in classroom, game presentation (graphical or not); and (5) ease to play. The
such as: arrays, string handling, insertion of pictures, file grade, once all items of all students who tested it were added
handling, some deepening on modularization, and use of up, was responsible for 30% of the final grade for the group
GUIs. that developed the game.
 Step VII: the groups met and shared the knowledge they
gathered;
 Step VIII: the students coded the game, designed its manual 5.2 | Teacher's evaluation
and wrote the implementation report; Teacher's evaluation was done considering the following
 Step IX: each group presented the educational game to the criteria: (1) difficulty level of the solution; (2) coding
teacher, who could have a say about possible improve- structure; (3) proper use of the structures learned; and (4)
ments. The students then had one more week to update proper documentation. This grade corresponded to 70% of the
the game in order to participate of the games demonstra- project's final grade.
tion session for all students of the course.
Figure 2a depicts an example about Ancient History
using a GUI, and Figure 2b shows a game about World 5.3 | Self-assessment and process evaluation
War II in text mode; Self-assessment and process evaluation by students was done
 Step X: the following evaluations were conducted: peer through a form (Table 1) which addressed the following
evaluation, in which each student in the course who used aspects: commitment, motivation, and opinion (positive and
the game got a form to evaluate it; teacher's evaluation; and negative aspects).
student's self-assessment.

6 | RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

TABLE 4 Questionnaire for self-assessment and process evaluation 6.1 | Participants’ profile
—students’ opinion
A total of 30 students from three different classes of a
Questions
course in the Computer Science area participated in the
13. Indicate positive aspects of the use of games in the course.
survey. From this total number, 11.76% were female. Age
14. Indicate negative aspects of the use of games in the course.
average is 20.08 years old, with a standard deviation of
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| MARTINS ET AL.

5.81. Figure 3 shows their level of knowledge on 6.2.5 | Negative aspects of the course
programming.
Figure 12 shows the answers to question 14 (Table 4) bringing
Figure 4 shows the previous knowledge on
the students’ opinion on the negative aspects (I don’t like
programming.
games, Time for game development, Difficulties in game
development, I considered the class boring and discouraging,
6.2 | Self-assessment None).
The results show that 66.7% of the students did not find
6.2.1 | Motivation any negative aspect in the course, and 20% considered time
for development insufficient, although they had time during
Figure 5 depicts the answers to questions 1 and 2 about
the classes to develop. The other 13.3% faced trouble with
motivation as presented in Table 1.
game development. Therefore, it can be pointed out that the
Figure 6 depicts the answers to questions 3 and 4 about
course reached their goals, as 2/3 of the students did not find
motivation as presented in Table 1.
any negative aspect in the course.
Figure 7 shows the answers to questions 5 and 6 about
motivation as presented in Table 1.
The charts associated to Motivation allow noticing that 6.2.6 | Teacher's opinion
the students felt very motivated. This is reflected by the high
The development of a game in a first semester's course for
figures of students who agree (totally or strongly) with the
Computer Sciences students is something worth mentioning,
questions. This value was on average equal to 90% of the
as it provided them with the experience of a daily working
students.
routine very similar to what they will get in their careers; it
was thus an attempt to make the course attractive and reduce
6.2.2 | Commitment evasion as a result. Positive and proactive attitudes from the
students during the game development were evident,
Figure 8 presents the answers to questions 7 and 8 about
especially to autonomously search for new knowledge. The
commitment as presented in Table 2.
students’ effort led to higher averages and more complex
Figure 9 shows the answers to questions 9 and 10 about
projects when compared to previous years’ ones. It was also
commitment as presented in Table 2.
observed an improvement in programming itself, that is, more
Although 100% of the students agreed that they learned
elaborate and organized codes.
programming in this course (Figure 9—question 7) and that
Due to lack of experience, some students had trouble
the use of games in projects motivated them to endeavor more
devising the game, but the way the project was conducted
during class (Figure 9—question 8), they are not so convinced
addressed that issue. This is an advantage of PBL, which
about having endeavored more in this course or out of the
allows the course to be led in an easy and organized way.
class than in other courses (Figure 10—questions 9 and 10)
The knowledge sharing step, allied to teamwork, makes the
with, respectively, 53.3% and 56.7% of the students having
students work, and share the knowledge gathered, while
agreed with that.
allowing at the same time to respect each student's
individuality. Teamwork, which is commonplace in Com-
6.2.3 | Proactivity puter Science-related professions, produced the need for the
students to train respect to diverging opinions and problem
Figure 10 shows the answers to questions 11 and 12 about
solving. This provided the students with the development of
proactivity as presented in Table 3.
skills to identify the relevant aspects of the problem being
Regarding proactivity, it can be observed that 73% of the
studied, imagination, teamwork, and logical thinking,
students agree that research on educational games helped
ensuring appropriate discussions within the project's
them design their own game, while 100% of them said they
context.
had to look for additional information to develop the project.

7 | CONCLUSIONS
6.2.4 | Positive aspects of the course
Figure 11 displays the answers to question 13 (Table 4) The programming course in the Computer Science courses
bringing the students’ opinion on the positive aspects. presents a failure rate, and hence evasion, which is caused by
Results show that the main positive factors of the course factors such as the lack of knowledge by the students about
were: increase in motivation, personal satisfaction, and the profession chosen, lack of knowledge on Math, and of
evolution in the course. This reveals their concern with abstract thinking abilities, as well as motivation. However,
learning. when there is student motivation, commitment, and
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proactivity regarding some content, most of the barriers can education (ITiCSE '07). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 2007,
be overcome. pp. 121–125.
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Enquiry C & Problem Based Learning, T. Barrett, I. MacLabhrainn,
development in a course in the Computer Science area. It was
and H. Fallon Eds., AISHE, Dublin, (2005), 14–25.
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7. C. Beaumont and C. Fox, Learning Programming: Enhancing
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By means of the evaluation presented in section 6, it was
13. A. Fowler and B. Cusack, Kodu game lab: Improving the
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PBL along with game development in the introductory the 6th International Conference on Foundations of Digital
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(2008), 23–32. Brazil. She has a Postdoctoral Degree from the Federal
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Lauderdale, FL, 2015, pp. 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1109/ holds a degree in Computer Science
SECON.2015.7133047 from the Pontifical Catholic Univer-
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technological learning in educational and professional contexts. Master in Computer Science from
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34. C. Wilson et al., Running on empty: The failure to teach K–12 M. DE PAIVA GUIMARÃES received a
computer science in the digital age. New York: The Association for
PhD in electrical engineering at
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Association. Avaliable at: http://runningonempty.acm.org/
University of São Paulo, Brazil, in
fullreport2.pdf. [Accessed December 2017]. 2004 and the MSc in Computer
35. D. Woods, Problem-based Learning for Large Classes in Chemical Science at Federal University of
Engineering. In: Wilkerson, L., Gijsaers, W. (Eds.), Bringing São Carlos in 2000. He graduated
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Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, (1996), 91–99. in 1994 at Instituto Municipal de
MARTINS ET AL.
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Ensino Superior de Assis. He has been working with

distributed systems and virtual reality since 2000. He is How to cite this article: Martins VF, de Almeida
professor at Federal University of São Paulo/Open Souza Concilio I, de Paiva Guimarães M. Problem
University of Brazil (UAB) and Faculty Campo Limpo based learning associated to the development of games
Paulista, Brazil. His main research interests are for programming teaching. Comput Appl Eng Educ.
distributed systems, virtual reality, augmented reality, 2018;26:1577–1589. https://doi.org/10.1002/cae.21968
and education.