The effects of game‐based learning in the acquisition of “soft skills” on undergraduate software engineering courses: A systematic literature review

Abstract

AbstractThe software industry is becoming an increasingly important part of the economy in countries that have realized that the education of future software engineers is crucial to having a vibrant software industry. However, software engineering education is still influenced by traditional teaching impeding the acquisition of soft skills. Game‐based learning (GBL) combines learning with different known resources, such as games, to support and improve the teaching/learning process and/or student evaluation through active learning. This study presents a systematic literature review on the use of GBL for teaching software engineering at the undergraduate level, from 2001 to 2020, by addressing four research questions: What kinds of games have been developed for software engineering education? Which software engineering areas have been addressed by these games? Which soft skills have been promoted by using these games? How have these skills been evaluated? The study found 96 studies to answer these four questions. The findings provided evidence on the development of digital games focused on teaching the fundamentals of software engineering defined by software engineering body of knowledge. Moreover, these games have been able to promote the acquisition of more than one soft skill which is beneficial for undergraduate students.