Coding is widely regarded as a fundamental skill of the 21st century. Yet, there is still a shortage of programmers worldwide which disproportionately affect the innovation goals of many sectors. In this study, we evaluated the installment of a Python programming gamified course in higher education, and measure its effect on students’ knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy, and skills performance. Two sections with 50 students each were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups. After one semester, the experimental group exhibited significantly higher scores in laboratory activities (skills performance) compared to the control group. Furthermore, they demonstrated a significant improvement with reference to attitude and self-efficacy before and after intervention. Therefore, we concluded that the use of a Python programming gamified course was an effective method for students to learn coding and programming concepts. The use and installation of a gamified course in learning other computer programming languages is highly recommended.

A trigeneration system consists of interdependent technologies for power generation, heat generation, and the generation of cooling effect which leads to the overall improved thermodynamic efficiency of the system. However, the optimal design of a trigeneration system also depends on the product price variability of the energy streams which are highly dependent on the price of the raw materials and the product demand. Taking into consideration expected price fluctuations of streams, it is then possible for plant owners and engineers to evaluate the investment risk associated with the design capacity of a trigeneration system. The study proposes the use of a 2k factorial design of experiments together with fuzzy linear programming to conduct a price sensitivity analysis in the optimal design of a trigeneration system. This type of analysis can provide plant owners information on possible configurations for optimal capacity given uncertainty in the price parameters.