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Using Mobile Game Development to Enhance Student Engagement. Gill Harrison, Simon Sharpe and Mark Dixon Leeds Metropolitan University. Simon. Mark. To start off. It is a truth universally acknowledged,. that a student in Higher Education,. must be in possession of a mobile.
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Using Mobile Game Development to Enhance Student Engagement Gill Harrison, Simon Sharpe and Mark Dixon Leeds Metropolitan University HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Simon HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Mark HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
To start off... It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a student in Higher Education, must be in possession of a mobile. HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
To start off... Who has a phone that can play games (i.e. not a retro Nokia)? Have you any games installed? How many – Fewer than 10? More than 20? Do you play them on public transport? HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
MAD Mobile Application Deployment Java applications for mobile devices HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Restructured Computing Course We needed a new shared module that all students would take ?????? HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Drivers • the need to be engaging • students’ familiarity with mobile devices • employment prospects for developers of mobile applications HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Creating mobile applications Teaching computer science and programming in the context of mobile applications provides a motivating framework for students and inspires them to excel due to the practical experience they gain allowing them to develop applications for their own mobile devices (Mahmoud, 2008) Compared to traditional game development, programming mobile games is less complex, which enables students with limited programming experience to create playable mobile games within the scope of a single course (Kurkovsky, 2009) HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
What language and Development Environment? Factors to consider: students were already familiar with Java free software to take home? good for teaching programming concepts? range of mobile devices supported? supporting tools in development environment? staff skills? HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Candidates Flash Lite Java ME (Java Platform, Micro Edition) HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Teaching and Learning Lectures, supervised labs, formative practical exercises, independent working HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Technical Netbeanshas emulator and Game Designer Eclipse has emulator Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) On top Together provide complete Java Application environment for mobile phones. Base configuration Connected Limited Device Configuration (CDLC) for small mobile devices Possible Development Environments HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Engaged (2010)..... HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Engaged (2011)..... HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Engaged (2011)..... HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Emulator on a desktop NetBeans supports Sprites, collision detection etc. HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Examples of games HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Game implemented (2010) HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Java ME runs on most major brands including Nokia Samsung Sony Ericsson Blackberry HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Feedback 2010 • From the module team: • attendance and engagement better • all (95) who engaged passed HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Feedback Standard Module Evaluation questionnaire: Questions on quality of teaching, learning materials, assessment nearly all graded 1 (excellent) or 2 (very good) Open-ended questions – what was good, and what could be improved? HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Feedback module was really enjoyable and developed my understanding of java very good overall! thanks I have gained more understanding from this form of programming than I have from any other. Great module and well taught. Really enjoyed the module. Not a big fan of programming but got me sucked in and couldn’t stop. HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Feedback Additional questionnaire to 20 volunteers: Has studying the module influenced your choice of future studies in any way? HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Feedback - negative I'm no good at programming Programming not my niche - won't be studying further Too difficult and not a subject that interests me much HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
and positive Module enjoyable liked to have progressed more I've decided to pursue software development Module has motivated me to do more programming Improved my java skills - might consider being a programmer HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Conclusions and further work Results of this first run were pleasing Students encouraged to base final-year projects on their work HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
The future Undergraduate level one more year certainly Will offer at post-graduate level next year HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
The future? HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
The future Lots of Android phones – HTC, Samsung, Sanyo etc. Still Java, but some additional complications (XML, a configuration file, etc.) HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011
Reference Sharpe, S., Dixon, M. and Harrison, G. (2010) A MAD Approach to Java Concepts. In: Proceedings of the 11th Annual Conference of the Subject Centre for Information and Computer Sciences Durham August 2010. Newtownabbey, HE Academy. HE Academy ICS Programming Conference 2011