The Pedagogical Computer Games for Coding For the Students With Learning Disabilities in VET Organisations
Nature of the Output and its Significant Contribution
Project Result 1: Game-Based Learning for Students with Learning Disabilities
Innovation:
The project developed a series of educational games designed to teach coding to students with learning disabilities in vocational education. These games integrate game dynamics, psychology, and mechanics to create a highly engaging and motivational learning environment. This approach is innovative as it moves away from traditional, text-heavy teaching methods, which often cause anxiety among these students, to a more interactive and enjoyable format.
Impact:
The games have significantly impacted students by increasing their engagement and motivation to learn coding. The use of games helps students focus better and enhances their capacity to learn by making the process enjoyable. Preliminary feedback from different countries showed that these games reduced anxiety and improved learning outcomes among students with learning disabilities.
Transferability:
The games are designed to be used across various educational settings and are easily adaptable to different languages and curricula. This ensures that the project results can be transferred to other educational institutions and countries, promoting widespread adoption of game-based learning.
Some Examples of Games:
Number Pairs:
Focuses on teaching basic arithmetic and comparison operators.
Uses interactive assignments to help students understand fundamental programming concepts through practical exercises.
Astro Code Adventures:
Teaches coding logic and decision-making through maze-solving activities.
Incorporates real-time feedback and adaptive difficulty levels to maintain engagement and challenge students appropriately.
Don't Be Mad:
The aim of the "Don't Be Mad" web application project is not only to provide a digital version of the popular board game, but also to use the game as a tool for teaching the basics of programming. Through interactive learning modules integrated into the game, users will learn key concepts of programming and algorithmic thinking. These modules offer demonstrations and hands-on exercises that allow users to better understand the theoretical principles of programming through specific game situations and tasks.
The game "Don't Be Mad" is designed to provide players with an interactive and fun way to learn programming. Each lesson is followed by a practice test in which users write their own code to solve game problems. This approach allows users to immediately apply their acquired knowledge in real-world scenarios, increasing their ability to understand and implement programming techniques. Thus, the project not only promotes fun and competition, but also contributes to the development of technical skills and logical thinking, which is valuable for users' personal and professional growth.
Project I Code the Future: Provides a comprehensive platform for learning coding through gamified lessons and activities. Includes a variety of resources and tools to support students and teachers in the learning process.
In this frame of results “The Pedagogical Computer Games for Coding for the Students With Learning Disabilities in VET Organizations” was developed totally 10 games which are: don’t be mad (ludo game), Space Shooter, Astro Code Adventures, Brick Breaker, Racing Game, Game Edible Inedible, Colors Game, Asteroid Shooter, Make Code, Number Pairs. Each of these games reinforces and teaches coding fundamentals. Besides of this every game has a clarification in our project website. ( https://icodefuture.cz/cz/result.aspx?Id=24)
Difference Between Planned and Implemented:
The initial plan focused on creating a limited number of games; however, based on the positive feedback and high engagement levels, the project was expanded to include more games and additional features such as adaptive learning paths and enhanced accessibility options. This adjustment was made to meet the needs of the students better and ensure the games were as effective and inclusive as possible.
Conclusion
The project successfully used the innovative gamification approach to enhance learning for students with learning disabilities. The significant impact on student engagement and learning outcomes, coupled with the games' transferability across different educational contexts, highlights the project's success and potential for wider adoption. The adjustments made during implementation ensured the project's outputs were even more effective and inclusive, addressing the specific needs of the target audience.
