Game Design and STEM Learning

Rafael Fajardo, P4 GamesScott Leutenegger, P4 Games

Karen Michaelson, Tincan

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Game Education via Making @ DU

Pixels, Programming Play & Pedagogy (P4games)

• High School Summer Game Camp• Teacher Game Institute• School Year Implementation

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Game Camp (P3)• 2 week residential OR 1 week school• Rising 9th and 10th graders• 2.5 hrs / day each Programming, Pixels, Play• Last days: workshopping and programming

STUDENT GAMES

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Teacher Game Institute

• Designing learning environments

• Project based learning

• Performance based assessment

• STEM education

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TGI Continued

• Same curriculum as students but additional pedagogy component

• Adapt curriculum to specific environments

• 120 hours of professional development

• Graduate credit from College of Education

TEACHER GAMES

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Tincan Game Development Programs

Supported by National Science Foundation ITEST grant and U.S. Department of Education Women’s Educational Equity Act Program

Tincan Game Development Programs

Teen Summer Workshops• One week each• Boot Camp and Advanced TopicsAfter School Programs• After school multi week boot camp• Middle school girls program integrating

biotech/CSI and game developmentTeacher Institutes

Teacher Institutes

3 week summer institute with one week of practicum in a student game camp

Goal is to integrate game development into the regular classroom

Teachers bring curriculum to the workshops and have time for development and peer feedback

Same curriculum as students but additional pedagogy component

Implementation

• Contexts of implementation varied• Projects included: – an end of year project where students researched an

organism in the PNW and made a game showing how it would evolve

– made MMF part of my core curriculum…able to tie in parts of what students are doing in science class and use that as a theme

– 1/2 year developing games with an applied science class.– had the 9/10 physical science class use MMF to make a

presentation.

Re-Evolution

Mars-The Search for Life

Trash Planet

Twisted Creek

Energy Farm

www.tincan.org Genetic Colonization

From the Teachers

What are the advantages of game development for STEM learning?

• exemplar of project-based learning• students WANT to make a game => willing to

work to do it• game designs can be tied into any core

subject, not just technology• reluctant learners become excited about

research and story design• Increases interest in STEM careers

What specific skills do you see game development as supporting in the

STEM classroom?• Math 1: coordinate system, variables,

percentages• Math 2: trig, approximate models

(physics), linear relationships• Math 3: detailed models, physics,

simulation, Linear Algebra

What specific skills do you see game development as supporting in the

STEM classroom?• Computing 1 (Scratch): variables,

conditional statements, iteration, broadcast, logic

• Computing 2 (Greenfoot, Flash): All normal CS1 topics

What specific skills do you see game development as supporting in the

STEM classroom?• Background subject research (Science)

for game design• Must use the scientific method in order

to troubleshoot their game • MMF: Computational thinking: patterns

that emerge from computer science but that are useful in much broader contexts

Why do Art and Design matter? How do they help teach STEM?

• Both are the part of the "magic" that make game creation engaging

• Paper games way to quickly engage students• Game design has rules/logic that transition

directly to code• Art can renew students suppressed voice• Game design requires more personal

responsibility for learning

How does game development support diversity (gender, ethnicity) in STEM?

• Girls play games in equal numbers, hence, an equalizer• Many girls and minorities NOT okay with depiction of

women/minorities, opportunity to make a game for themselves (examples from game camps: glass ceiling, reverse fairytales, babysitting game)

• Potential for a career in games motivates students into technology

• Girls enjoy creating avatars and other representations of self embedded in a science context

How do teachers react to games being used to teach STEM?

• Our (self-selecting) participants have been VERY positive

• Half or more not confident or knowledgeable about games: need encouragement

• Truly excited when they see the whole picture• Teachers reported that learning game development

changed some of the ways they approached the learning process in their classroom – more collaboration, inquiry.

• Helped make them stronger teachers