Visualizing Loops Using a Game-Like Instructional Module

Loops are one of the most challenging concepts for students who are new to programming. This paper presents a game-like instructional module titled "Iterative Dungeon" that was designed to help students visualize the looping process. This module visualizes and reinforces the for loop, nested for loop and while loop. It has been used and evaluated in the CSC1310 Computer Programming I class during Fall 2012 at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU). To evaluate the impact of this module, a pre-test, a post-test, a survey, and interviews were conducted. Promising results, positive feedback and favorable comments from students show that this game module has positive impact on student learning.