Serious Game as Support for the Development of Computational Thinking for Children with Hearing Impairment

Sandra Cano,Cristian Rusu,Sergio Albiol-Pérez,Cristhiam Henao,Juan S Naranjo

doi:10.3390/app11010115

Abstract

Computational thinking (CT) has been a topic of interest in research, not only in the field of computer science, but also in education, since it allows the development of a set of competencies in the child related to problem-solving and decision-making. However, few studies on CT are focused on children with disabilities. Developing computational thinking skills for children with hearing problems is a challenge, even more so when their language skills are limited. Following a methodology for conception of serious games for children with hearing impairment called MECONESIS (Acronym in Spanish, MEtodología para CONcepción de juEgos Serios para nIños con discapacidad auditiva), we designed the serious game Perdi-Dogs for children between 7 and 11 years old with hearing impairment. We considered a set of aspects, such as challenges/learning, control, rules, feedback, interaction, rewards, surprise, communication/language, and fantasy. Perdi-Dogs involves both a physical and a digital interface, specifically a physical board together with digital interaction, by means of a QR (Quick Response) code and vibrotactile feedback system. Perdi-Dogs simulates a real environment, using physical elements able to interact simultaneously with technology. Evaluation was carried out with a group of seven children between 7 and 11 years old from the Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (Colombia). The results showed a high motivation to play for all of the children involved in the experiment.

Highlights

Computational thinking (CT) was introduced in 1980 by Papert [1], who developed the concept of constructionism
The research question for our study was the following: how can computational thinking skills be developed through a tangible serious game for children with hearing impairment? We developed Perdi-Dogs, a serious game for children with hearing impairment, which aims to help to develop CT
A serious game for children with hearing impairment was proposed as a support tool in the acquisition of skills related to CT

Summary

Introduction

Computational thinking (CT) was introduced in 1980 by Papert [1], who developed the concept of constructionism. Based on Piaget’s constructivism, constructionism emphasizes the agency of young people as active participants in the construction of their own learning. Logo was the first programming language created for children, and it was integrated with a turtle robot. It was based on constructionist learning, which is when learners construct mental models to understand the world around them [10]. The term CT was introduced in 1980 by Seymour Papert, who developed a game called Logo that featured both physical and digital interactions. Sci. 2021, 11, 115 idea, Papert was inspired by Piaget’s theory of constructivism [20], in which interactions with the environment and working other children cause a child’s individual intelligence to develop. Papert adds something new to Piaget’s theory, i.e., play and affection as important elements in the learning process [21]

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion