Much research attention has been focused on learning through game playing. However, very little has been focused on student learning through game making, especially in science. Moreover, none of the studies on learning through making games has presented an account of how students engage in the process of game design in real time. The present study seeks to address that gap. We report an exploratory embedded case study in which three groups of students in one classroom created a computer game designed to teach peers about climate science, while drawing on scientific knowledge, principles of game design, and computational thinking practices. Data sources were student design sheets, computer video, and audio screen capture while students created their game, and interviews after completing the curriculum unit. A theme‐driven framework was used to code the data. A curricular emphasis on systems across climate systems, game design, and computational thinking practices provided a context designed to synergistically supported student learning. This embedded case study provides a rich example of what a collaborative game design task in a constructionist context looks like in a middle school science classroom, and how it supports student learning. Game design in a constructionist learning environment that emphasized learning through building a game allowed students to choose their pathways through the learning experience and resulted in learning for all despite various levels of programming experience. Our findings suggest that game design may be a promising context for supporting student learning in STEM disciplines.
more » « less- PAR ID:
- 10478152
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Research in Science Teaching
- Volume:
- 61
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 0022-4308
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 772-808
- Size(s):
- p. 772-808
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
null (Ed.)The Game Play and Design Framework is a project-based instructional method to engage teachers and students with mathematics content by utilizing technology as a vehicle for game play and creation. In the authors’ prior work, they created a technology tool and game editing platform, the Wearable Learning Cloud Platform (WLCP), which enables teachers and students to play, create, and experience technology-augmented learning activities. This paper describes a 14-week Game Play and Design professional development program in which middle school teachers played, designed, tested, and implemented mathematics games in the classroom with their own students. Examples are included of teacher-created games, feedback from the students’ experience designing games, and evidence of student learning gains from playing teacher-created games. This work provides a pedagogical approach for educators and students that utilizes the benefits of mobile technologies and collaborative learning through games to develop students’ higher-level thinking in STEM classrooms.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)The Game Play and Design Framework is a project-based instructional method to engage teachers and students with mathematics content by utilizing technology as a vehicle for game play and creation. In the authors’ prior work, they created a technology tool and game editing platform, the Wearable Learning Cloud Platform (WLCP), which enables teachers and students to play, create, and experience technology-augmented learning activities. This paper describes a 14-week Game Play and Design professional development program in which middle school teachers played, designed, tested, and implemented mathematics games in the classroom with their own students. Examples are included of teacher-created games, feedback from the students’ experience designing games, and evidence of student learning gains from playing teacher-created games. This work provides a pedagogical approach for educators and students that utilizes the benefits of mobile technologies and collaborative learning through games to develop students’ higher-level thinking in STEM classrooms.more » « less
-
This study investigated patterns in the development of computational thinking practices in the context of the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) program, a high school introductory CS course and professional development program designed to foster deep engagement through equitable inquiry around CS concepts. Past research indicates that the personal relevance of the ECS experience influences students' expectancy-value towards computer science. Expectancy-value is a construct that is predictive of career choices. We extended our research to examine whether expectancy-value influences the development of computational thinking practices. This study took place in the context of two ECS implementation projects across two states. Twenty teachers, who implemented ECS in 2016–17, participated in the research. There were 906 students who completed beginning and end of year surveys and assessments. The surveys included demographic questions, a validated expectancy-value scale, and questions about students' course experiences. The assessments were developed and validated by SRI International as a companion to the ECS course. Overall, student performance statistically increased from pretest to posttest with effect size of 0.74. There were no statistically significant differences in performance by gender or race/ethnicity. These results are consistent with earlier findings that a personally relevant course experience positively influences students' expectancy for success. These results expanded on prior research by indicating that students' expectancy-value for computer science positively influenced student learning.more » « less
-
Abstract This paper reports on the first iteration of the Computational Thinking Summer Institute, a month‐long programme in which high school teachers co‐designed computationally enhanced mathematics and science curricula with researchers. The co‐design process itself was a constructionist learning experience for teachers resulting in constructionist curricula to be used in their own classrooms. We present three case studies to illustrate different ways teachers and researchers divided the labour of co‐design and the implications of these different co‐design styles for teacher learning and classroom enactment. Specifically, some teachers programmed their own computational tools, while others helped to conceptualise them but left the construction to their co‐design partners. Results indicate that constructionist co‐design is a promising dual approach to curriculum and professional development but that sometimes these two goals are in tension. Most teachers gained considerable confidence and skills in computational thinking, but sometimes the pressure to finish curriculum development during the institute led teachers to leave construction of computational tools to their co‐design partners, limiting their own opportunities for computational learning.
Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic?
Computational tools can support constructionist science and math learning by making powerful ideas tangible.
Supporting teachers to learn computational thinking and to use constructionist pedagogies is challenging.
What this paper adds?
Constructionist co‐design is a promising approach to simultaneously support curriculum development and professional development, but there are tensions to navigate in trying to accomplish both goals simultaneously.
Implications for practice and/or policy
Designers of professional development should consider constructionist co‐design as an approach but should be aware of potential tensions and prepare for them.
-
The focus of this paper is to investigate how elementary students learned computer science concepts through storytelling in Scratch. To serve this purpose, we conducted artifact interviews with 4th graders who were engaged with a computer science (CS) integrated module in their English language arts (ELA) class. Students created stories in Scratch with a focus on character traits. The constructionist design of the Scratch tool supports student learning through tinkering, the creation of meaningful artifacts, and through the theatrical metaphor that underlies interface design. This paper explores how two 4th graders demonstrated their CS/CT and ELA knowledge through the design of a Scratch artifact and how Scratch facilitated this interdisciplinary learning. While there have been studies in middle school and in after-school contexts that focus on digital storytelling and writing, there are few papers that examine interdisciplinary integration in the formal school context at the elementary level.more » « less