Will it stick?: exploring the sustainability of computational thinking education through game design

Authors:
Kyu Han Koh;Alexander Repenning;Hilarie Nickerson;Yasko Endo;Pate Motter
Affiliations:
University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA;University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA;University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA;University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA;University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
Venue:
Proceeding of the 44th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
Year:
2013

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Abstract

A strategy exposing middle school students to computer science through game design appears to be a promising means to mitigate the computer science pipeline challenge. Particularly when short game design activities are integrated into already existing middle school courses, research suggests that game design is effective in broadening participation and motivating large numbers of students, along with large percentages of women and minorities. A study with over 10,000 students is exploring the sustainability of this approach and finding positive responses to inquiries such as these: Do teachers continue to use game design? Can they advance beyond extrinsic rewards such as research stipends? After building one game, do students advance, building more games or even STEM simulations?