Educational Game Design for Teaching Robotic Coding

It is known that early robotics programming experiences contribute to the development of different skills in learners, and learning through play is effective in terms of motivation, participation, and retention of knowledge. However, there are few studies in the literature on teaching robotics coding to children through gamification. The aim of this study is to develop a Scratch-based educational game to teach robotics coding to children aged 6-12. Three games from simple to complex were developed. The level-based game, which teaches basic programming concepts, shows Scratch and Python equivalents of the operations performed by the player. It was evaluated by 12 experts, using a 15-item-form covering educational content, usability, interface design, technical performance, and motivation. The findings indicate that the designed educational game is an accessible, motivating tool to teach robotic coding to children; it can make a strong contribution especially to supporting problem solving and algorithmic thinking skills; the basic educational goals in the design have been largely achieved and that it can be made a more effective learning tool with improvements based on feedback. Future studies can be enriching the game interface and feedback mechanisms, increasing level diversity, and integrating more advanced programming concepts into the game.