Home // International Journal On Advances in Software, volume 9, numbers 3 and 4, 2016 // View article

An Ontological Perspective on the Digital Gamification of Software Engineering Concepts

Authors:
Roy Oberhauser

Keywords: software engineering education; software engineering games; educational computer games; digital game-based learning; digital games; ontologies

Abstract:
Software engineering (SE), because of its abstract nature, faces awareness, perception, and public image challenges that affect its ability to attract sufficient secondary school (high school) age students to its higher education programs. This paper presents an edutainment approach called Software Engineering for Secondary Education (SWE4SE), which combines short informational videos and a variety of simple digital games to convey certain SE concepts in an entertaining way without necessitating or intending any skill development such as programming. Our realization mapped various SE concepts to seven digital games and these are described using the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) and game elements ontologies. We also investigated the maturity of ontologies for concepts in this area to determine the feasibility for a methodological mapping of SE concepts to game element and game logic to further automation. Results of SWE4SE with secondary students showed a significant improvement in the perception, attractiveness, and understanding of SE can be achieved within just an hour of play, suggesting such an edutainment approach is economical, effective, and efficient for reaching and presenting SE within secondary school classrooms. Our ontological investigation showed significant gaps towards formalizing or automating the approach.

Pages: 207 to 221

Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2016. Used with permission.

Publication date: December 31, 2016

Published in: journal

ISSN: 1942-2628