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Experiences in the use of mobile games to improve programming skills in computer engineering

Abstract:

This paper presents an experience in the use of technologies and mobile games to improve programming skills. Improvement of students' achievement is evaluated to check how this kind of experiences can help them to pass their programming-related courses in information engineering degrees. MobiGame contest is the central point of students' work. In this event, they show a game or application that runs on a mobile device (cell phone or PDA). Before the main event, different technical seminars are arranged to guide students on the development environments and the suitable technologies. The Java programming language and JME technology are the most used, but it is not the only technology that seminars cover. The point is taking the Java programming Language learning process to different learning environments, not just the academics ones. This way, we promote the creation of a collaborative learning environment, among the group components and all the event contestants. After examining the results, it can be concluded that the students have acquired new skills and obtained very good academics results. © 2012 ICIC International.