Code Saga – A Mobile Serious Game For Learning Programming

During this global pandemic of coronavirus, the amount of self-learning done by students has considerably increased. They cannot only rely on online classes to study as students easily lose interest in these online classes. A number of studies have shown that undergraduate students have problems grasping the introductory chapters of programming. If they cannot even understand the basics, then they might not be able to comprehend the more complex chapters. Tutors have to find a means to match their teaching methodology to the students’ interest so that the latter can be as engaged as possible. This brought about a need to devise a new method of learning for IT-related undergraduate courses. It is a well-known fact that many students show a keen interest in video games. Using video games for teaching can be an interesting way to encourage self-learning of students. The concept of integrating gameplay with educational contents is known as serious games. In this paper, a mobile serious game, Code Saga, is being proposed. The primary aim of Code Saga is to smooth out the learning process of students opting for IT courses at undergraduate level. The game has been design to cover key chapters on Programming based on the latest IEEE/ACM curriculum guidelines for undergraduate degree programs in Software Engineering. A combination of mixed gaming-approaches has been used to make the game as entertaining and educational as possible to the undergraduate students. The game includes fun assessment activities to assess the players’ understanding on various programming concepts. The game also consists of a scoring mechanism, which a tutor can use to track students’ strengths and weaknesses on specific topics. Code Saga has been tested by a group of students at the University of Mauritius and the results confirmed that most students prefer to learn programming using serious games compared to the traditional learning methods.