Implementation of a Serious Game to Develop Computational Thinking Skills

Abstract

Computational thinking is a set of skills that allows solving problems abstractly and systematically. Due to the exponential advance of technology, different schools seek to foster it in younger students. The objective of this work is to propose a serious game to develop computational thinking. The methodology consists of a literature review of previous studies about the use of serious games for the development of computational thinking skills. The information was systematized with a special focus on the following elements: Experimental design, learning objective and game variables, measurement tool, statistical techniques, software engine, components, design framework, main results, suggestions for future studies, conclusions, experimental group, article objective. The main results were as follows: First, the most used genre is puzzle. Second, the most frequently addressed thematic dimensions are basic programming concepts and problem-solving. Third, Unity is the most widely used software engine in the literature today. Fourth, the MDA framework is the most referenced for game design. Fifth, the selection of a pre-experimental design limits the development of conclusions about the effectiveness of serious games to develop computational thinking. Sixth, the selected learning objective variables do not directly quantify the identified computational thinking skills. Seventh, future studies should prolong the experimentation and increase the size of the experimental group.