Computer Science Education for Primary and Lower Secondary School Students: Teaching the Concept of Automata

We explore the feasibility of early introduction to automata theory through gamification. We designed a puzzle game that players can answer correctly if they understand the fundamental concepts of automata theory. In our investigation, 90 children played the game, and their actions were recorded in play logs. An analysis of the play logs shows that approximately 60% of the children achieved correct-answer rates of at least 70%, which suggests that primary and lower secondary school students can understand the fundamental concepts of automata theory. Meanwhile, our analysis shows that most of them do not fully understand automata theory, but some of them have a good understanding of the concept.