Computational thinking is increasingly recognized as an important skill set to learn for people living in the 21st century, and the
middle school years comprise a critical stage to introduce children to computational thinking. Video game based learning is a promising way
to foster computational thinking among middle school students, however, it is relatively less researched compared to other methods. In this
dissertation study, I evaluated the effectiveness of a video game Penguin Go on developing middle school students’ computational thinking
skills, as well as on improving their attitudes toward computer science. I designed Penguin Go to cover the core components of computational
thinking, including problem decomposition, abstraction, algorithmic thinking, conditional logic, iterative thinking, and debugging. I
implemented the game based on Blockly, a block-based programming language. The game was evaluated with 43 middle school students during two
weeks. In addition to the overall effectiveness of the game, I aimed to investigate the impact of a specific game feature—constraints on the
number of blocks in a solution—on both students’ computational thinking skills and their attitudes toward computer science. Results showed
that after playing Penguin Go for less than two hours, students’ computational thinking skills improved significantly, however, the
additional constraints did not generate a significant impact on learning gains. Also, the game did not bring about significant attitudinal
changes among students. The additional constraints, however, resulted in a significant negative change in students attitudes toward computer
science. Implications of the findings and possible directions for future research regarding using these types of games to foster
computational thinking are discussed. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2017. / November 1, 2017. / block-based programming language, blockly, computational thinking, computer science, game-based learning, problem
solving / Includes bibliographical references. / Valerie J. Shute, Professor Directing Dissertation; Lawrence C. Dennis, University Representative;
Robert A. Reiser, Committee Member; Fengfeng Ke, Committee Member; Russell George Almond, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_605112 |
| Contributors | Zhao, Weinan (author), Shute, Valerie J. (Valerie Jean), 1953- (professor directing dissertation), Dennis, Lawrence Carl (university representative), Reiser, Robert A. (committee member), Ke, Fengfeng (committee member), Almond, Russell G. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Education (degree granting college), Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (101 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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