Tools – not toys

Vesa Lappalainen, Lecturer PhD Antti-Jussi Lakanen, University teacher MScDepartment of Mathematical Information Technology, University of Jyväskylätrac.cc.jyu.fi/projects/npohttps://trac.cc.jyu.fi/projects/comtest

Vesa Lappalainen

• PhD 1985 in Mathematics• Teaching programming since 1982• Research activities:– InSitu: Interaction possibilities on a mass lecture– ComTest: Making test-driven development

(TDD) simple– Students’ perceptions of programming– Early recruitment in ICT

• My gaming background– Two teenager boys

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Antti-Jussi Lakanen

• MSc 2010 in Mathematical Information Technology

• Teaching programming, recruitment, tutoring freshmen

• Research activities– CS1 and games, effect on study success– K-8/K-12 programming

• My gaming background– Commodore 64, Amiga 500, ... – More of fun, less of “useful” activities

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Tools - not toys

• Many times things are left too complicated in real tools

• Not even beginners but also more experienced programmer

• This forces to use toys instead of real tools• Why not go a bit further with real tools?• We show two examples to simplify things:– Jypeli – event driven game framework over

XNA– ComTest – make unit testing easier

Our presentation in a nutshell: Part 1• We are worried about the

decline in IT, science and math students• We developed a week-long

game programming course for youngsters to motivate studying IT, science and math

• Jypeli programming library was developed as a tool to reduce the cognitive load in beginning game programming

• We have had 7 courses, 150 students, aged 11-17

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Our presentation in a nutshell: Part 2• Ohjelmointi 1 (CS 1) with a game theme– Started in 2010– Strong learning outcomes– TDD (ComTest for C#)

• As of autumn 2011 game theme will be a common denominator in the majority of the courses of the IT faculty

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Part 1: Game programming course for teenagers (12-16 years) using Jypeli

• Each of these has its’ own important role in the process

• If we change some part, we affect the ensemble

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• The course concept introduced is a combination of

1. department staff (teachers),

2. tools (Jypeli etc.), 3. content and 4. motivated

participants

Disclaimer

Links

• https://trac.cc.jyu.fi/projects/npo  • https://www.jyu.fi/it/laitokset/mit/opiskelu/n

uortenkurssi 

• Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=114345435260705 

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Acknowledgements

• University of Jyväskylä / Department of Mathematical Information Technology– Funding courses in 2009, Jypeli development

• Technology Industries of Finland Centennial Foundation– Courses in 2010—2011

• Agora Center– Research in game development

• Microsoft– Software, Xbox controllers

• Physics2D.NET physics library

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Introduction

• Student decline in ICT and science fields (economics still get students)

• Amount of students passing the courses has gone down 50 % since 2004

• How to get youngsters to choose science courses in high school? – And hopefully to continue

their studies later in university

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Why this course?

• What are the young interested of?• Something to excite!• How to combine fun with “real things”• We wanted to show that concepts of high

school math and science apply also in games• Why not to target senior high?– We wanted to influence what subjects they pick

in senior high– With senior high students we would be late

(ca 50 % doesn’t even go to senior high)

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Finnish educational system

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Elementary school, 6 yrs (Alakoulu in Finnish), starts at the age of 7

Junior High School, 3 yrs (Yläkoulu in Finnish)

Senior High School (lukio), 3 yrs

Vocational School (ammattikoulu), 3 yrs

University (bachelor), 3 yrs

Polytechnics (bachelor), 3.5 – 4 yrs

University (master), 2 yrs

Com

puls

ory

ed

uca

tion

50.2 % 41.2 % (8.6 %)

Pre-school, 1 year (Esikoulu in Finnish), starts at the age of 6

Motivation and learning outcomes1. Motivation to physics concepts– Quantities: time, distance,

speed, acceleration and force– Causal relationship: dependencies between

objects– Gravity, friction, motion, balance– Mass and its effects– Particle kinematics

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Motivation and learning outcomes2. Motivation to math concepts– Problem solving– Function, interpretation and drawing– Coordinates– Geometry: straight line, scaling, shapes– Vectors– Equations and solving them– Probability and random numbers– Boolean value, logic– Angle, degrees and radians

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How to program games

• Two mainstream options1. Visual programming

• Alice, Scratch, Greenfoot, …• Lego robots (compare to

industrial process programming, e.g. National Instruments, LabView, etc.)

• Microsoft Kodu

2. Textual programming• Java ACM Task Force• XGC1 (UWB)

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Alice

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Kodu Game Lab

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•  

Jypeli library -- Why and objectives• “Real programming” by mainstream

tools• First game should not be many lines of code• “Realistic” physics built-in• Event-driven for controls and collisions– Less structures, as few as zero loops and ifs

• Endless possibilities for advanced programming

• Possibility to transfer games to game consoles and mobile phones

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Choosing the tool – Motivation to building a new library

• Lack of Finnish material• Xbox currently only game console

with the possibility to transfer own games easily C# as the language

• Lack of physics engines in available libraries out-of-the-box

• Limited time available – It also takes time to study a library someone else has made

• Faculty interests in bringing knowledge about building game engines, physics engines etc. 20

Example game:Galaxy Trip

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using System;using Jypeli;using Jypeli.Effects;

public class Game : PhysicsGame{ static String[] lines = { " ", " ", " ", " X X ", "X ", " * ", " X X ", " ", " ", " ", " ", "* X X ", "X ", " * ", " X X ", " ", " ", " ", " * ", " X X ", "X ", " ", " X X ", " ", };

static int tileWidth = 800 / lines[0].Length; static int tileHeight = 480 / lines.Length; static Image playerImage = LoadImage("ship"); static Image galaxyImage = LoadImage("galaxy"); static Image sombreroImage = LoadImage("sombrero"); static Image explosionImage = LoadImage("bum"); ExplosionSystem explosionSystem; PhysicsObject player;

protected override void Begin() { Level.Background.Image = LoadImage("space"); Gravity = new Vector(0, -1000); NewGame(null); }

void NewGame(Touch touch) { ClearGameObjects(); ClearControls();

player = new PhysicsObject(50, 50, Shape.Circle); player.Image = playerImage; Add(player);

explosionSystem = new ExplosionSystem(explosionImage, 50); Add(explosionSystem);

Keyboard.Listen(Key.Up, ButtonState.Pressed, MovePlayer, "Move up", player, new Vector(0, 500)); Keyboard.Listen(Key.Down, ButtonState.Pressed, MovePlayer, null, player, new Vector(0, -500)); Keyboard.Listen(Key.Left, ButtonState.Pressed, MovePlayer, null, player, new Vector(-500, 0)); Keyboard.Listen(Key.Right, ButtonState.Pressed, MovePlayer, null, player, new Vector(500, 0)); TouchPanel.Listen(ButtonState.Pressed, NewGame, null); Accelerometer.Calibration = AccelerometerCalibration.ZeroAngle; Accelerometer.ListenAnalog(AccelerometerSensitivity.Realtime, ChangeGravity, null);

TileMap tiles = TileMap.FromStringArray(lines); tiles['X'] = CreateGalaxy; tiles['*'] = CreateSombrero; tiles.Insert(tileWidth, tileHeight); Level.CreateBorders(); Camera.ZoomToLevel(); }

public void MovePlayer(PhysicsObject player, Vector force) { player.Hit(force); }

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PhysicsObject CreateGalaxy() { PhysicsObject galaxy = PhysicsObject.CreateStaticObject(tileWidth, tileHeight); galaxy.Color = Color.LightBlue; AddCollisionHandler(galaxy, CollidedWithGalaxy); galaxy.Image = galaxyImage; return galaxy; }

PhysicsObject CreateSombrero() { PhysicsObject sombrero = PhysicsObject.CreateStaticObject(tileWidth, tileHeight); sombrero.Color = Color.Yellow; sombrero.Image = sombreroImage; AddCollisionHandler(sombrero, CollidedWithSombrero); return sombrero; }

void CollidedWithGalaxy(PhysicsObject galaxy, PhysicsObject target) { PlaySound("blop"); }

void CollidedWithSombrero(PhysicsObject sombrero, PhysicsObject target) { PlaySound("exp"); explosionSystem.AddEffect(target.X, target.Y, 50); sombrero.Destroy(); }

void ChangeGravity(AnalogState s) { Gravity = s.StateVector * 2000; }}

Course instances in 2009—2010

2009 2010 Total

Courses 2 5 7

Instructors 1 plus 3-4 1 plus 4

Students 45 105 150

Girls / boys 7 / 38 6 / 99 13 / 137

Age• mean• median• youngest / oldest

13.813

12 / 16

14.214

11 / 17

Drop outs 3 (7 %) 6 (6 %) 9 (6 %)

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”I have earlier programming experience” (2010)

None Somewhat little

Not little, not much

Somewhat much

Very much0.0 %

10.0 %

20.0 %

30.0 %

40.0 %

50.0 % 47.5 %

25.3 %

18.2 %

8.1 %

1.0 %

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”I consider myself an experienced computer user” (2009-2010)

Disagree Somewhat disagree

Not agree, not disagree

Somewhat agree

Agree0.0 %

10.0 %

20.0 %

30.0 %

40.0 %

50.0 %

2.2 %4.4 %

33.3 %35.6 %

20.0 %

4.0 %6.0 %

31.0 %

41.0 %

18.0 %

2009 2010

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”I play computer games…” (2009-2010)

1-4 times a month A few days a week Every day0.0 %

10.0 %

20.0 %

30.0 %

40.0 %

50.0 %

60.0 %

70.0 %

2.2 %

46.7 %51.1 %

3.0 %

37.4 %

59.6 %

2009 2010

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Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri

9:00-9:50

Starting info

Functions Loops, random numbers, gravity

Classes and methods of Jypeli library

How to continue

10:00-10:50

Get to know with tools

Carrying on with the Pong game

Designing and implementing own game

Implementing own game

Finalizing own game

11:00-11:45

Making the first game (Pong-tutorial)

Finalizing the Pong game

Implementing own game

12:15-13:30

What are algorithms

Handling collisions

How to make a level out of a tilemap (grid)

Showcase

13:45-15:00

Carrying on with the Pong game

Designing own game

Implementing own game

Showcase and best game voting

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35

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Student output

• Video compilation of the ready games

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Hardest things on the course

• 42 % of the responses related to new language and new syntax– “learning a new programming

language"– “writing the code"– “syntax of the language"– “finding errors”– “writing errorless code”

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Is it hard to do programming?

• Majority of the students had none or only little earlier programming experience (2009: 89 %, 2010: 73 %)

• 68 % said that programming was NOT harder than he/she had expected

• 49 % said their conception of programming had changed during the course– Thought it was harder– Programming games was more fun than expected– Programming was more fun than expected

• Conclusion: It’s hard, but fun, and less hard than expected

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Interest towards ICT/science studies

Pre- questioning

Post-questioning

+ / -

Agree or fully agree

37.9 % 43.6 % +5.7 %

Disagree or fully disagree

27.9 % 17.9 % -10.0 %

Mean 3.16 3.41 +0.25

Std dev 1.19 1.16 -0.03 43

Challenges of the concept

• How much do they learn– Measuring this is challenging – Is learning many things really

the objective? – Is it enough just to “have fun

with programming”?

• What happens after the course• Post-course communication– Facebook

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Part 2: CS1 using Jypeli and ComTest (university and senior high school students)

Game theme in theUniversity of Jyväskylä• Ohjelmointi 1 (CS 1)

with a game theme (Jypeli)– Started in 2010– Strong learning outcomes– TDD (ComTest for C#)

• As of autumn 2011 game theme will be a common denominator in the majority of the courses of the IT faculty

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Studies for senior high school students• We offer university courses for

senior high school students– E.g. Programming 1 (CS 1) with a game-theme– Students are fully credited when they entry

university– Give advantage in entrance examination

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ComTest = Comments for Testing• Unit testing more simple– In CS2 the threshold to make JUnit tests is

quite high

• Tool for design– Serve as both code examples and test cases

• Tool for documentation• https://trac.cc.jyu.fi/projects/comtest/wiki/ComTestInEnglish

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/// <summary>/// Microsoft Academic Conference 2011 – ComTest example/// </summary>public class MAC2011{ /// <summary> /// Is a given year a leap year. /// </summary> /// <param name="vuosi">Year in question.</param> /// <returns>true if is a leap year, otherwise false.</returns> /// @example /// <pre name="test"> /// MAC2011.IsLeapYear(1900) === false; // divisible by 100 /// MAC2011.IsLeapYear(2000) === true; // divisible by 400 /// MAC2011.IsLeapYear(2003) === false; // odd number /// MAC2011.IsLeapYear(2004) === true; // divisible 4 /// MAC2011.IsLeapYear(2010) === false; // not divisible 4 /// </pre> /// @endexample public static bool LeapYear(int vuosi) { if (year % 400 == 0) return true; if (year % 100 == 0) return false; return year % 4 == 0; }}

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ComTest = Comments for Testing• Suits for functions and objects• Java, C++, C# implementations• Plugins for Eclipse and VS2010• “Preprocessor” that translates ComTest

test to JUnit or NUnit tests• Tabular format simplifies more complex

testing– See ComTest vs. JUnit

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Questio

ns