Session Information
| Title | Game Design as an Intro to Computer Science |
| Presenter(s) | Mark Suter and Steve Isaacs |
| Time | Friday, October 17, 10:30a-11:30a |
| Location | Lake Michigan |
| Format | Speaker |
| Description | Using video game design to introduce computer science concepts to middle school students has lead to an increase in students pursuing more advanced CS classes, and less students forming a stigma about the CS field. By using relatable phrases like "IF my character has no health, THEN what other things should happen?", students become accustomed to thinking systematically, seeing relationships between objects, how to manipulate variables, and accounting for the inevitable user errors. These early positive experiences form a critical confidence that allows beginner programmers to persevere when they know precisely what they want their character to do, but haven't discovered how to achieve it...yet. We will demo a 10 minute mini-lesson as if teaching our 6th-8th grade students followed by a best practices discussion for teachers to help students transfer this knowledge to more complex programming environments. Our goal is to provide students with an honest look into the joys and frustrations a computer scientist faces to arm them with the knowledge necessary to make class and career decisions later. "Recruiting CS students" does not completely describe our mission and its relevancy. The genuine experience of middle school students in our game design courses allows us as educators to be transparent and honest with students about how and why we are learning the topics. The student knowledge acquired by using GameMaker has made the transition to other programming languages smoother as students are familiar with the structure and function of variables, procedural steps, and controlling the flow of a program. This is an advantage over students attempting to learn both the syntax of a programming language as well as the concepts simultaneously. We will also review current research from peer reviewed journals to help legitimize this approach in the minds of school administrators wary of students just "playing games". |