Using Game Development to Teach Programming

Abstract

One of the educational actions used to leverage the acquisition of practical and theoretical knowledge in the classroom is related to the “learn by practice” methodology in which the student goes from a mere spectator to an agent in his/her learning process. This methodology is being applied in the teaching of courses related to programming, fostering the development of digital games as a didactic practice. This chapter describes the digital games development experience in programming courses on the first year of computer graduation courses in a Brazilian private university. The study reveals the opinion of students and teachers on the application of game development in such courses, as well as the methodology applied to each one of them. The results obtained emphasize that the activity intensifies the learning of concepts inherent to programming, along with fostering motivation and commitment that is paramount in the building of their competencies and skills.