Supporting computational thinking through gamification

Video games have grown in popularity since the 1980's. The largest consumers of video games are youth populations. Previous research has shown cognitive development and learning principles in video games. As a result, there is an increasing interest in games being teaching tools. Gamification is the use of video game elements in non-game applications. In this paper, I proposed a design to a study of applying gamification to a computer programming software, VENVI, in order to promote motivation, engagement, and computational thinking.