Why Games?

Student game designer at work.

Game design is promising area of innovation in STEM learning [1]. Research suggests that empowering youth to create their own video games promotes learner independence [2] [3] [4]. Moreover, it encourages youth to take ownership over STEM knowledge, rather than viewing it as belonging to others [5], thereby ushering them into STEM communities of practice [6].

A growing body of research suggests that creating video games can be a highly engaging way for children to learn a range of STEM skills [7] [8] [9]. Many studies have explored children learning engineering and technology skills using youth programming environments such as Alice, Scratch, and Kodu [10]. Results suggest that these programming environments can teach children computational thinking [11] [12] [13] and computer programming [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]. While more research is needed on children learning math and science skills through game design, existing research suggests that it is a promising pedagogical technique. Several studies suggest that it is possible for children to learn both scientific concepts[20] [21] and scientific thinking [22] [23] from making video games. In addition, game design has been shown to teach children math skills ranging from fractions [24] [25] to variables [26] to graphing [27].

Creating video games seems to support several higher-order skills that cut across STEM learning as well. Making video games with programs such as Scratch can also help students learn to think creatively [28] and artistically [29], as well as reason systematically [30] and problem-solve [31]. Research also suggests that making video games can be a powerful tool for helping children learn to collaborate effectively [32] [33] [34]. When children work together on making a video game, they have to work out how to build on one another’s ideas, resolve conflicting opinions, make the best use of each team member’s skill set, and so forth.

Game design shows promise as an innovative way to teach STEM skills to children in groups that are underrepresented in STEM fields, including girls, minorities, and children from underserved backgrounds. Research suggests that game design is particularly effective at teaching STEM skills to children from underrepresented groups when children are mentored and the game design experience is tailored to their interests [35] [36] [37] [38]. Involving underrepresented groups in making games gives them a pathway into participation in the game design industry [39], which can help change an industry in which minorities and women are rarely cast as main characters and often depicted in negative stereotypes.

Looking across the current available research, game design has emerged as a promising area of innovation in making STEM and other educational topics more engaging for America’s youth. The STEM Video Game Challenge hopes to motivate STEM learning by leveraging students’ natural excitement to play and make video games.

 

References

[1] Thai, A., Lowenstein, D., Ching, D., & Rejeski, D. (2009). Game changer: Investing in digital play to advance children’s learning and health. The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop.

[2] Black, P., McCormick, R., James, M., & Pedder, D. (2006). Learning how to learn and assessment for learning: A theoretical inquiry. Research Papers in Education, 21(02), 119-132.

[3] Kafai, Y. (1995). Minds in play: Computer game design as a context for children’s learning. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

[4] Robertson, J., & Howells, C. (2008). Computer game design: Opportunities for successful learning. Computers & Education, 50(2), 559-578.

[5] Papert, S. (1993). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful Ideas. New York: Basic Books, Inc.

[6] Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. MA: Cambridge University Press.

[7] Harel, I., & Papert, S. (1990). Software design as a learning environment. Interactive Learning Environments, 1(1), 1-32.

[8] Prensky, M. (2008). Students as designers and creators of educational computer games: Who else? British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(6), 1004-1019.

[9] Robertson, J., & Howells, C. (2008). Computer game design: Opportunities for successful learning. Computers & Education, 50(2), 559-578.

[10] Werner, L., Campe, S., & Denner, J. (2012). Children learning computer science concepts via alice game-programming. SIGCSE ’12 Proceedings of the 43rd ACM technical symposium on computer science education, 427-432.

[11] Lee, I., Martin, F., Denner, J., et al. (2011). Computational thinking for youth in practice. ACM Inroads, 2(1), 32-37.

[12] Wu, M., & Richards, K. (2011). Facilitating computational thinking through game design. Edutainment Technologies. Educational Games and Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Applications, 220-227.

[13] Resnick, M., Maloney, J., Monroy-Hernández, A., et al. (2009). Scratch: programming for all. Communications of the ACM, 52(11), 60-67.

[14] Overmars, M. (2004). Teaching computer science through game design. IEEE Computer, 37(4), 81-83.

[15] Denner, J., Werner, L., & Ortiz, E. (2012). Computer games created by middle school girls: Can they be used to measure understanding of computer science concepts? Computers & Education, 58(1), 240-249.

[16] Kafai, Y. (1995). Minds in play: Computer game design as a context for children’s learning. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

[17] Kafai, Y., Carter Ching, C., & Marshall, S. (1997). Children as designers of educational multimedia software. Computers & Education, 29(2), 117-126.

[18] Bishop-Clark, C., Courte, J., Evans, D., & Howard, E. V. (2007). A quantitative and qualitative investigation of using Alice programming to improve confidence, enjoyment and achievement among non-majors. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 37(2), 193-207.

[19] Maloney, J. H., Peppler, K., Kafai, Y., Resnick, M., & Rusk, N. (2008). Programming by choice: urban youth learning programming with scratch. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 40(1), 367-371.

[20] Kafai, Y., Carter Ching, C., & Marshall, S. (1997). Children as designers of educational multimedia software. Computers & Education, 29(2), 117-126.

[21] Sheridan, K., Clark, K. & Peters, E. (2009). How Scientific Inquiry Emerges from Game Design Paper. In I. Gibson et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2009 (pp. 1555-1563). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

[22] Clements, D. (1987). Longitudinal study of the effects of Logo programming on cognitive abilities and achievement. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 3(1), 73-94.

[23] Sheridan, K., Clark, K. & Peters, E. (2009). How Scientific Inquiry Emerges from Game Design Paper. In I. Gibson et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2009 (pp. 1555-1563). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

[24] Harel, I., & Papert, S. (1990). Software design as a learning environment. Interactive Learning Environments, 1(1), 1-32.

[25] Kafai, Y. (1998). Video game designs by girls and boys: Variability and consistency of gender differences. In Jenkins, H., Cassell, J. (2000). From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games. Massachusetts: MIT Press.

[26] Resnick, M. (2012). Mother’s Day, Warrior Cats, and Digital Fluency: Stories from the Scratch Online Community. Proceedings of the Constructionism 2012 conference. Athens, Greece.

[27] Peppler, K., & Kafai, Y. (2005). Creative coding: Programming for personal expression. Retrieved August, 30, 2008.

[28] Resnick, M. (2012). Mother’s Day, Warrior Cats, and Digital Fluency: Stories from the Scratch Online Community. Proceedings of the Constructionism 2012 conference. Athens, Greece.

[29] Resnick, M., Maloney, J., Monroy-Hernández, A., et al. (2009). Scratch: programming for all. Communications of the ACM, 52(11), 60-67.

[30] Resnick, M. (2012). Mother’s Day, Warrior Cats, and Digital Fluency: Stories from the Scratch Online Community. Proceedings of the Constructionism 2012 conference. Athens, Greece.

[31] Resnick, M., Maloney, J., Monroy-Hernández, A., et al. (2009). Scratch: programming for all. Communications of the ACM, 52(11), 60-67.

[32] Resnick, M. (2012). Mother’s Day, Warrior Cats, and Digital Fluency: Stories from the Scratch Online Community. Proceedings of the Constructionism 2012 conference. Athens, Greece.

[33] Resnick, M., Maloney, J., Monroy-Hernández, A., et al. (2009). Scratch: programming for all. Communications of the ACM, 52(11), 60-67.

[34] Salen, K. (2007). Gaming literacies: A game design study in action. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 16(3), 301-322.

[35] Clark, K. & Sheridan, K. (2010). Game design through mentoring and collaboration. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 19(2), 125-145.

[36] Denner, J., Werner, L., & Ortiz, E. (2012). Computer games created by middle school girls: Can they be used to measure understanding of computer science concepts? Computers & Education, 58(1), 240-249.

[37] Papastergiou, M. (2009). Digital game-based learning in high school Computer Science education: Impact on educational effectiveness and student motivation. Computers & Education, 52(1), 1-12.

[38] Wentworth, P. (2010). Can computational thinking reduce marginalization in the future internet? Kaleidoscope: Beyond the internet? Innovations for Future Networks and Services, 1-5.

[39] Peppler, K., & Kafai, Y. B. (2007). What videogame making can teach us about literacy and learning: Alternative pathways into participatory culture. Proceedings of the Digital Games Research Association Conference, 369-376.