Therefore, interventions to address this problem at the global level are needed to ensure sustainable economic growth. Also, there is only 18% of females among university graduates in computer science in the US (Cunningham et al. There is only 17% of females among ICT specialists and 34% of females among STEM graduates (European Commission 2019). Another global problem is the gender gap in computer science education and careers. Despite advances in the use of methods and tools for teaching programming, there is still a lack of skilled ICT workers as well as a gap between the skills that students acquire through formal education and skills needed by industry (European Commission 2010). Teaching programming in primary and lower secondary education is considered as one of the major factors for promoting continuing education in these fields among students (Wong et al. Using these tools, teachers and researchers try to motivate students for the acquisition of programming skills but also to encourage some of them to choose computer science and ICT for their future careers. Using these tools, students create programs by manipulating graphical elements (blocks) instead of writing text commands and can easily create interactive stories and games, which positively affects their motivation and engagement in learning activities involving programming (Lau 2018), (Holenko Dlab et al. To encourage learning programming from an early age, specialized visual tools and programming languages such as Scratch (Scratch 2020), Snap! (Snap! 2020), and Alice (Alice 2020) have been developed. Therefore, various innovative methodologies, including game-based learning (GBL), are used in teaching (Topalli and Cagiltay 2018), (Shabalina et al. Introducing programming concepts and enhancing the development of programming skills in an appropriate manner is a challenge at all levels of education.
Teachers and experts consider this approach as a relevant and effective method for achieving learning objectives related to programming, applicable and suitable for lower secondary students (11–15 year olds).
1.1.2 LIGHTBOT ANSWERS HOW TO
The results showed that students accepted the C4G methodology and were motivated to learn how to program by developing games for solving real-world problems. In-service and pre-service teachers organized learning activities for students based on the C4G learning scenarios, which include the development of games in the programming language Snap! with topics that are interesting for both boys and girls and which involve solving real-world problems. This paper presents the results of a study with a mixed-gender group of both boys and girls ( N = 773) carried out with the aim of examining the effectiveness of the C4G development-based learning approach in lower secondary education in Croatia. Using the C4G game development-based learning methodology, students develop serious games for which they need to learn specific programming concepts. A European initiative CODING4GIRLS (C4G) promotes the acquisition of programming skills through a game development process with the aim of preparing young learners, especially girls, to enter computer science careers and raising awareness of the relationship between ICT and the real world.
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