Playing coding games to learn computational thinking: What motivates students to use this tool at home?

Area of Science:

• Educational Technology
• Computational Thinking Education
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Coding games are popular tools for teaching computational thinking (CT).
• Research on CT learning via coding games primarily focuses on formal classroom settings.
• The effectiveness and motivational factors of coding games in informal home-based learning environments remain under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate student motivation for using the coding game Coding Galaxy in a home-based setting.
• To explore the relationship between students' perceptions of the game and their actual usage patterns.
• To identify key factors influencing engagement with coding games outside of school.

Main Methods:

• An 11-day intervention involving 104 primary school students in Hong Kong.
• Quantitative data collection through questionnaires on game perceptions.
• Quantitative data collection via log file analysis of game usage.
• Qualitative data collection through focus group interviews with participants.

Main Results:

• Coding motivation and enjoyment were significant predictors of game usage.
• Coding motivation emerged as the primary factor influencing engagement.
• Intrinsic motivation correlated positively with increased game activity, as evidenced by comparisons between active and inactive users.

Conclusions:

• Intrinsic motivation and enjoyment are crucial for sustained engagement with coding games in home settings.
• Findings highlight the importance of fostering coding motivation for effective computational thinking education.
• Implications for designing and implementing coding games in informal learning contexts are discussed.