Developing Gamification Tool to Help Sudan University of Science and Technology Students with understanding Programming Java Concepts

Abstract

Programming concepts are very important for university students, especially for computer science students. Today, students face a lack of understanding of programming concepts in java language. This study aimed at developing a gamification tool to help students in understanding programming Java concepts. The research sample dataset was deliberately collected and chosen from SUST students of 1st year. The sample comprised of 40 students who learned Java programming for the first time. The research tool was Master Java Treasure Hunt Game(designed by the researcher) and a questionnaire was designed to assess to what extent the gamification tool can motivate students to practice Java exercises and learn programming concepts, the tool was developed by adding advanced TEL features, such as immediate feedback, electronic assessment, monitoring, and evaluation. The results showed that students gain enjoyment and interest in playing games, integrating gamification in the learning process increases students' motivation, excitement, and interest, Students ensure that MasterJava motivates them to practice and study java although they were on holiday. On the light of the results, the researcher presented several recommendations most importantly are: the study should make more advanced use of technologically enhanced learning (TEL) in the game, integrate the tool with an online compiler for more feature in writing code and on line compiling, apply gamification in Sudan education system.