Design and analysis of a virtual reality game to address issues in introductory programming learning

The field of computer science has not shied away from employing game-based learning and virtual reality techniques for computer programming education. While a plethora of game-based, virtual reality or combinations of both solutions exist, most are developed as an alternative to traditional lessons where students focus on learning programming concepts or languages. However, these solutions do not cater to problems students face when learning programming that is mainly caused by the abstract nature of programming, misconceptions of programming concepts and lack of learning motivation. Hence, in this paper, a framework to address the abstract nature of programming, common programming misconceptions and motivational issues is developed. The framework consists of three modules that correspond to each issue powered by a simulation engine. To address the abstract nature of programming, programming concepts will be represented with concrete objects in the virtual environment. Furthermore, to address common programming misconceptions, simulation techniques such as interactions and player perspective will be utilised. Lastly, motivational game elements will be employed into the simulation to engage students when learning through the system. Results gathered from questionnaires indicated that users were generally satisfied with the virtual experience developed from the framework.