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Fri, Nov 3, 3:30 - 3:55, Bordeaux Paper (refereed)

Recommended Citation: Felice, L and M n Fernandez. The Use of Games to Teach Programming Algorithms. In The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2006, v 23 (Dallas): §2525. ISSN: 1542-7382.

The Use of Games to Teach Programming Algorithms

Refereed

5 pages

Laura Felice    [a1] [a2]
Departamento de Computación y Sistemas. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas
Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires    [u1] [u2]
Tandil, Buenos Aires, Argentina    [c1] [c2]

Martín Fernandez    [a1] [a2]
Departamento de Computación y Sistemas. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas
UNCPBA    [u1] [u2]
Tandil, Buenos Aires, Argentina    [c1] [c2]

Using real world problems as examples to solve with different design techniques of algorithm emphasizes how the learned concepts of design (Backtracking, Divide and Conquer, Greedy and Dynamic Programming) help to create good algorithms. When we analyze the contributions of a typical course of analysis and design of algorithms, we can observe the students trying to improve their aptitudes in the programming areas. However, the jobs we propose for our courses, could give students with a more enriching experience by providing them a way to work with problems (more precisely, games) building a "real" framework for users and thereby creating the necessary tools. This paper introduces the author's experiences teaching this course with a system development project as a means to evaluate the applications of the introduced concepts and techniques on assignments and projects.

Keywords: algorithm design techniques, programming teaching, games, complexity, C++ language

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