Instilling Computational Thinking in Undergraduate Students Across Multiple Disciplines through an Adaptive Gamified e-Learning Platform

This full paper presents the instillation of computational thinking (CT) in undergraduate students across multiple disciplines through an adaptive gamified e-learning platform. In today’s fast-paced digital age, possessing CT abilities is essential for effective critical thinking and problem-solving across various fields. To cultivate CT proficiency in students from diverse disciplines, we designed an innovative adaptive gamified e-learning platform called Computational Thinking Quest (CTQ). The eight key features of CTQ are (1) interactive storyline with customizable avatars, mini-games, and questions; (2) performance profiler; (3) comprehensive question bank with questions at three difficulty levels; (4) feedback and answer to each question; (5) additional learning resources via hyperlinks; (6) badges and leaderboard; (7) progress saving feature; and (8) integrated online feedback survey. The CTQ was introduced to recently enrolled first-year undergraduate students across all five discipline clusters at Singapore Institute of Technology. The learning performance and feedback of 135 students were gathered and examined. The student population comprised 33 Business, Communication and Design (BCD); 48 Health and Social Science (HSS); and 54 Infocomm Technology (ICT) undergraduates. Statistical results from the paired Student’s t-test reveal significant differences (p < 0.05) (i) between the pre-test and post-test scores for HSS, ICT, and all students combined; (ii) between the pre-test duration and post-test duration for all three clusters and all students combined; (iii) between the self-assessed knowledge score before CTQ and after completing CTQ for all three clusters and all students combined. Moreover, majority of the students commented that the CTQ generates interest in CT, is an engaging learning platform with enriching educational content, and has motivated their independent learning. Lastly, CTQ functions as an online preparatory course aimed at reducing the diversity in academic backgrounds and varying levels of prior knowledge of computer programming languages among students. This will help smoothly transition students into programming-relevant modules, and ultimately enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning.