An Educational Game for Teaching Search Algorithms

Foteini Grivokostopoulou, Isidoros Perikos, Ioannis Hatzilygeroudis

2016

Abstract

Search algorithms constitute an important topic in the Artificial Intelligence curriculum and are acknowledged by most tutors to be a hard and complex domain for teachers to teach and students to deeply understand. In this paper, we present an educational computer game, designed to teach search algorithms, based on the popular Pacman game. The purpose of the educational Pacman game is to assist students to understand the artificial intelligence topic of search algorithms in an entertaining, interactive and motivating way. During their experience with the game, students can examine the behaviour of various search algorithms and a graphical annotated depiction of them through suitable visualizations. Visualizations can demonstrate the operational functionality of algorithms and are designed in line with the principles of student’s active learning. Various learning activities were designed and request students to apply specific search algorithms in various example cases with or without the assistance and feedback of the game. An evaluation study was conducted in real classroom conditions and revealed quite satisfactory results. The results indicate that the educational Pacman game is an effective way to enhance students’ engagement and help them to deeper understand the AI search algorithms.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Grivokostopoulou F., Perikos I. and Hatzilygeroudis I. (2016). An Educational Game for Teaching Search Algorithms . In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 2: CSEDU, ISBN 978-989-758-179-3, pages 129-136. DOI: 10.5220/0005864601290136

in Bibtex Style

@conference{csedu16,
author={Foteini Grivokostopoulou and Isidoros Perikos and Ioannis Hatzilygeroudis},
title={An Educational Game for Teaching Search Algorithms},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 2: CSEDU,},
year={2016},
pages={129-136},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0005864601290136},
isbn={978-989-758-179-3},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 2: CSEDU,
TI - An Educational Game for Teaching Search Algorithms
SN - 978-989-758-179-3
AU - Grivokostopoulou F.
AU - Perikos I.
AU - Hatzilygeroudis I.
PY - 2016
SP - 129
EP - 136
DO - 10.5220/0005864601290136