article

Puzzles and games: addressing different learning styles in teaching operating systems concepts

Authors:

John M. D. Hill,

Clark K. Ray,

Jean R. S. Blair,

Curtis A. Carver, Jr.Authors Info & Claims

ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, Volume 35, Issue 1

Pages 182 - 186

https://doi.org/10.1145/792548.611964

Published: 11 January 2003 Publication History

Get Access

Abstract

Because students have different learning styles, it's important to incorporate multiple teaching techniques into the classroom experience. One such technique is the use of puzzles and games in the classroom to reinforce the learning objectives. Many topics in Computer Science are well suited for coverage in such a game. Several in-class puzzles and games have been used in the Computer Science program at this institution in recent years. In basic and advanced courses, simple crossword puzzles reinforce terminology and Jeopardy!®-style games help students master material with short answers. In the most recent iteration of the Operating Systems course, a BattleThreads game and a Process State Transition game helped students appreciate different approaches to process and thread management. The latter two games have been assessed for their effectiveness, providing several insights into what makes a good in-class game for teaching operating systems concepts, and how the existing games can be improved.

References

[1]

Begg, A. J. C., "Games in the Classroom," Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching, Available at http://www.ex.ac.uk/cimt/games/gameclas.htm, {September 6, 2002}.

Google Scholar

[2]

Bell, T., "A Low-Cost High-Impact Computer Science Show for Family Audiences," Australasian Computer Science Conference, Canberra, Australia, (January 31-February 3, 2000), 10--14.

Google Scholar

[3]

Felder, R. M. and Silverman, L. K., "Learning and Teaching Styles in Engineering Education," Engineering Education, Vol. 78, No. 7, (1988), 674--681.

Google Scholar

[4]

Felder, R. M. and Solomon, B. A., "Index of Learning Styles (ILS)," North Carolina State University, Available at http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSpage.html, {September 6th, 2002}.

Google Scholar

[5]

Herr, N., "The Sourcebook for Teaching Science: Strategies, Activities, and Internet Resources," California State University, Northridge, Available at http://www.csun.edu/~vceed002/, {September 6, 2002}.

Google Scholar

[6]

Holt, C., "Y2K Bibliography of Experimental Economics and Social Science Classroom Games - Using Experiments in Teaching," University of Virginia, Available at http://www.people.virginia.edu/~cah2k/classy2k.htm, {September 6, 2002}.

Google Scholar

[7]

Levitin, A. and Papalaskari, M.-A., "Using Puzzles in Teaching Algorithms," Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, Covington, Kentucky, (February 27 - March 3, 2002), 292--296.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[8]

Ohlsson, L. and Johansson, C., "A Practice Driven Approach to Software Engineering Education," IEEE Transactions on Education, Vol. 38, No. 3, (1995), 291--295.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[9]

Rasala, R., Raab, J., and Proulx, V. K., "The SIGCSE 2001 Maze Demonstration Program," Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE 2002), Covington, Kentucky, (February 27 - March 3, 2002), 287--290.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[10]

Robbins, S. and Robbins, K., "Empirical Exploration in Undergraduate Operating Systems," Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE 1999), New Orleans, Louisiana, (March, 1999), 311--315.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[11]

Robbins, S., "Experimentation with Bounded Buffer Synchronization," Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE 2000), Austin, Texas, (March, 2000), 330--334.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[12]

Stallings, W., Operating Systems: Internals and Design Principles, Fourth Edition, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall (2001).

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[13]

Terry, R. E. and Harb, J. N., "Using Learning Style Theory to Improve Learning and Teaching in the Engineering Classroom," Frontiers in Education (FIE 1993), Washington, DC, (November 6-9, 1993), 22--23.

Google Scholar

Cited By

View all

Sobrino-Duque RMartínez-Rojo NCarrillo-de-Gea JLópez-Jiménez JNicolás JFernández-Alemán J(2022)Evaluating a gamification proposal for learning usability heuristicsInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2022.102774161:COnline publication date: 1-May-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2022.102774
Raptis GKatsini CCen AArachchilage NNacke LKitamura YQuigley AIsbister KIgarashi TBjørn PDrucker S(2021)Better, Funner, Stronger: A Gameful Approach to Nudge People into Making Less Predictable Graphical Password ChoicesProceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3411764.3445658(1-17)Online publication date: 6-May-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3411764.3445658
Lottering RHans RLall M(2019)Do Students Prefer Puzzles To Conventional Assessment Methods?2019 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Education (TALE)10.1109/TALE48000.2019.9225969(1-6)Online publication date: Dec-2019
https://doi.org/10.1109/TALE48000.2019.9225969
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Puzzles and games: addressing different learning styles in teaching operating systems concepts
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Computing education programs
        Computer science education

Recommendations

Puzzles and games: addressing different learning styles in teaching operating systems concepts
SIGCSE '03: Proceedings of the 34th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education

Because students have different learning styles, it's important to incorporate multiple teaching techniques into the classroom experience. One such technique is the use of puzzles and games in the classroom to reinforce the learning objectives. Many ...
Modeling Learners in Educational Games

Background: Video games are very well known for their intrinsic adaptivity; as they adapt the gameplay to the player's preferences and rhythm. In addition to adapting the gameplay, educational games should also adapt the learning content to match the ...
Digital Games in eLearning Environments

The notion of using games in education is as old as games themselves. In addition, the massive market opened by the digital games industry has caused great interest regarding their specific potential in education. However, this interest is sometimes ...

Comments

Please enable JavaScript to view thecomments powered by Disqus.

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

ACM SIGCSE Bulletin Volume 35, Issue 1

January 2003

406 pages

ISSN:0097-8418

DOI:10.1145/792548

Issue’s Table of Contents

SIGCSE '03: Proceedings of the 34th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
February 2003
444 pages
ISBN:158113648X
DOI:10.1145/611892
Conference Chair:
Scott Grissom
Grand Valley State University
,
Program Chairs:
Deborah Knox
The College of New Jersey
,
Dan Joyce
Villanova University
,
Publications Chair:
Wanda Dann
Ithaca College

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 11 January 2003

Published in SIGCSE Volume 35, Issue 1

Check for updates

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Article

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

72
Total Citations
View Citations
1,810
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)17
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)1

Reflects downloads up to 30 Dec 2024

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

View all

Sobrino-Duque RMartínez-Rojo NCarrillo-de-Gea JLópez-Jiménez JNicolás JFernández-Alemán J(2022)Evaluating a gamification proposal for learning usability heuristicsInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2022.102774161:COnline publication date: 1-May-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2022.102774
Raptis GKatsini CCen AArachchilage NNacke LKitamura YQuigley AIsbister KIgarashi TBjørn PDrucker S(2021)Better, Funner, Stronger: A Gameful Approach to Nudge People into Making Less Predictable Graphical Password ChoicesProceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3411764.3445658(1-17)Online publication date: 6-May-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3411764.3445658
Lottering RHans RLall M(2019)Do Students Prefer Puzzles To Conventional Assessment Methods?2019 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Education (TALE)10.1109/TALE48000.2019.9225969(1-6)Online publication date: Dec-2019
https://doi.org/10.1109/TALE48000.2019.9225969
Fernandes SOliveira LCosta A(2019)MOSS based Methodology to Building an Operational System for MIPS Simulator2019 IX Brazilian Symposium on Computing Systems Engineering (SBESC)10.1109/SBESC49506.2019.9046076(1-7)Online publication date: Nov-2019
https://doi.org/10.1109/SBESC49506.2019.9046076
Corda FOnnis MPes MSpano LScateni R(2019)BashDungeonMultimedia Tools and Applications10.1007/s11042-019-7230-378:10(13731-13746)Online publication date: 1-May-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s11042-019-7230-3
Bhat WRashid AWani FAltaf F(2019)Virtualization and visualization of virtual memory system for effective teaching–learningComputer Applications in Engineering Education10.1002/cae.2215227:5(1286-1294)Online publication date: 7-Aug-2019
https://doi.org/10.1002/cae.22152
Markantonatou SKiourt C(2018)Intertwining Culture With Education Through Gamified StorytellingInternational Journal of Computational Methods in Heritage Science10.4018/IJCMHS.20180101022:1(8-22)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/IJCMHS.2018010102
Weina FPing YShuai L(2018)Research on the Related Teaching Method of Computer Operating System Coursee-Learning, e-Education, and Online Training10.1007/978-3-319-93719-9_40(292-297)Online publication date: 30-Jun-2018
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93719-9_40
Kankuzi B(2018)Balancing Theory and Practice in an Introductory Operating Systems CourseICT Education10.1007/978-3-030-05813-5_24(362-375)Online publication date: 31-Dec-2018
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05813-5_24
Fernandes SSilva I(2017)Relato de Experiência Interdisciplinar Usando MIPSInternational Journal of Computer Architecture Education10.5753/ijcae.2017.48666:1(52-61)Online publication date: 1-Dec-2017
https://doi.org/10.5753/ijcae.2017.4866
Show More Cited By

View Options

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Cited By

Index Terms

Recommendations

Puzzles and games: addressing different learning styles in teaching operating systems concepts

Modeling Learners in Educational Games

Digital Games in eLearning Environments