Exploring Effects of Gamified Collaborative Face-to-Face Learning of Regular Expressions

This contribution presents a case study on the extension of traditional approaches to blended learning in theoretical computer science at university level by incooperating modern multitouch tabletop displays for collaborative learning. The evaluated serious game about regular expressions provides a collaborative learning experience for groups of students and allows precise control of difficulty. It includes gamification elements and allows extensive analytics of learner activities. The didactical approach is evaluated in a case study with randomized test and control groups consisting of students in the same semester who had no curricular contact with the topic prior to the experiment. The test group consisting of 34 students tackled regular expressions by playing the learning game with minimal intervention by an educator. The control group consisting of 59 students had a lecture about the same contents as the learning game. To measure the success of the game regarding learning outcome, three tests were taken, a pre-test prior to and a post-test after the instructional phase. To compare the sustainability of both methods, a third test was taken two weeks later. The results are discussed regarding the learning outcomes on different levels of Anderson and Krathwohl's revised version of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives.