La Petite Fee Cosmo

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of combining an interactive game and the concept of productive failure (PF) to nurture innovative teaching and learning. The study also aims to promote innovative approaches to improve students’ learning experience in data structure concepts taught in computer science disciplines, especially in the linked list concepts. A 2D bridge-building puzzle game, “La Petite Fee Cosmo” was developed to assist students in understanding the underlying concepts of the linked list and foster creative usage of the various functionalities of a linked list in diverse situations. To evaluate the potential impact of the interactive game and implications of productive failure on student learning; a pre-test, post-test and delayed-test were developed and used in the evaluation process. Further, the technology acceptance model (TAM) was applied to examine the factors that influence the adoption of productive failure approach in learning data structures. For group 1, the game that they played would represent the pre-test equivalent for group 2. Both the game and quiz have the exact same challenges. The game was built to analyse and infer player's knowledge, skill level and improvements. A player profile manager and gameplay analytics framework were developed to support saving data on the PC for multiple users. The analytics system logs all player performance statistics for each stage. A new log file is created for every replay of the same level — these interfaces directly with the operating system's file system for data storage. Singleton pattern was also used to develop these systems. Each time a new player logs into the game, a file with a unique id is generated. The gameplay analytics system relies on the player's unique id to match its analytics file to a player. The post-test was done to measure their improvement after the lecture. The delayed test, on the other hand, was conducted to evaluate how well students can retain the knowledge over a certain period for the respective group and to verify the results.