Teaching Methods in Computer Science Education - Guide to Teaching Computer Science: An Activity-Based Approach - page 106

Table 7.2 (continued)

The Conditional-Statement-Bingo game
Each board has nine cells and each cell includes a valid conditional statement (see Fig. 7.1 ). In
each such statement, the instruction System.out.println (“Bingo”) appears in one of the state-
ment branches. That is, for each if statement, the word Bingo is printed at one of its branches,
according to the variables' values. For example, if c's value is bigger than 80, Bingo is printed
in the following case: if (c > 80) System.out.println (“Bingo”); and the cell is marked
Each player's target is to mark all the cells on his or her board, according to the following rules
The Game—Rules
The game coordinator shuffles the cards and puts them in a deck with their face down. The
coordinator takes one card and reads its content. The cards include assignments to variables a,
b, or c, for example:
a = − 7, b = 2 ￗ (10 + 15)
After the coordinator reads the assignment statement, each player checks what cells in his or
her board should be marked; that is, a cell can be marked, if the System.out.println (“Bingo”);
statement is executed according to the announced values
The game ends when the card deck is empty or when one of the players marked all the cells in
his or her board
The game can be prepared in different levels of conditional statements difficulty, according to
the class' level

Table 7.3 Questions about games as a pedagogical tool is computer science education
Questions about games as a pedagogical tool in computer science education
What kinds of social games are you familiar with? (e.g., indoor/outdoor games; games with a
different number of players, etc.)
In what cases does it make sense to use social games as a pedagogical tool in computer science
education?
How can games enhance computer science learning?
Do games fit a specific population of computer science learners? Explain your opinion
What topics are specifically suitable to be learned by games?
What disadvantages does the teaching with games have?
Can a teacher evaluate learning processes during game playing?
In what frequency should a teacher use a game as a pedagogical tool?
What is the teacher's role during the game?

if (a < 5)
System.out.println("Bingo");

if (b > 2)
System.out.println("Hello");
else
System.out.println("Bingo");

if (c == 50)
System.out.println("Bingo");
else
System.out.println("Hello");

if (a > -10)
System.out.println("Hello");
else
System.out.println("Bingo");

if (b <34)
System.out.println("Bingo");

if (c > 0)
System.out.println("Big");
else
System.out.println("Bingo");

if (a == 10)
System.out.println("Hello");
else
System.out.println("Error");

if (b == 120)
System.out.println("Bingo");
else
System.out.println("No");

if (c > 80)
System.out.println("Bingo");