SPEDAT ‑ Games for Computational Thinking

By developing a learning game about the fundamentals of programming that is not tied to specific programming languages, the game targets students in higher education. The project also aims to contribute to increased goal attainment and course completion rates in programming courses. 

The game development followed the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, which is further described here:

Humble, N. & Mozelius, P. (2023, September). Design science for Small Scale Studies: Recommendations for Undergraduates and Junior Researchers. In Proceedings of the 22nd European Conference on Research Methodology for Business and Management Studies (ECRM 2023) (pp. 87-92). ACI. https://doi.org/10.34190/ecrm.22.1.1702 

Programming in Valhalla

"Programming in Valhalla" is the game developed within the SPEDAT project. In the game, the player takes on the role of a Tech Support tasked with further educating the gods of Asgard in programming. The game covers the basics of programming (such as variables, selection, iteration, and functions) and has been developed with support from AI tools.

Play the game

Download Programming in Valhalla from Codeberg.org

Play Programming in Valhalla at itch.io

Publications

Within the project, the following articles have been published in relation to game development:

• A longer summary article and a popular science report are under development and will be presented here ...
• Humble, N., Mozelius, P., & Sällvin, L. (2023, October). Need-Based Game Design: Developing a CT Game Based on Educational Needs. In Proceedings of the 17th European Conference on Games Based Learning (ECGBL 2023) (pp. 269-277). ACI. https://doi.org/10.34190/ecgbl.17.1.1489
• Mozelius, P., Sällvin, L., & Humble, N. (2023, June). An Educational Escape Room for Computational Thinking: Defining the Requirements. In International Conference on Education and New Developments (END 2023) (pp. 190-194). inScience Press. https://doi.org/10.36315/2023v2end040