Exploring emerging design patterns in student-made climate change games

Is My Game OK Dr. Scratch?

“…Game design is emerging in modern education for playful and creative learning [35,41,59,62,80]; it is the part of game-based learning [40,77] that leverages constructionism [29,30], and where students construct knowledge by designing digital artifacts [55,61]. We focus on the use of game design as a tool for scholars to teach and learn CT [2,24,28,50,51,85]. Earlier work argued that game design and CT are related and mutually beneficial [2,28], and how game design can lead to effective CT learning [85].…”

“…We focus on the use of game design as a tool for scholars to teach and learn CT [2,24,28,50,51,85]. Earlier work argued that game design and CT are related and mutually beneficial [2,28], and how game design can lead to effective CT learning [85]. For instance, previous work showed how middle-school students learning CT via game design score higher in CT tests [4,53].…”

“…All the data we have collected for our assessment and analysis used consent of teachers and student parents, and children assent. The consent form described (1) the tasks related to the curriculum (i.e., designing games in Scratch, learning climate change, and systems thinking), (2) what kind of research we would conduct using the student-designed games, and (3) clearly stated that the data would be treated with discretion and children identities would be protected (i.e., the student pairs used teachersassigned pseudonyms when loading their projects on the Scratch website).…”

“…Meanwhile, the increasing adoption of CT in modern schools is calling for tools that allow for effective teaching and assessment of CT [24,49]. For teaching CT, game-based learning [70,71], particularly game design [2,5,12,13], shows promise. Game design has the benefit of introducing students to CT through creative practices [2,13,18,22,28,39,50,59], and allows them to apply CT concretely while designing and creating digital artifacts [29,30].…”

“…For teaching CT, game-based learning [70,71], particularly game design [2,5,12,13], shows promise. Game design has the benefit of introducing students to CT through creative practices [2,13,18,22,28,39,50,59], and allows them to apply CT concretely while designing and creating digital artifacts [29,30]. For assessing CT, various instruments are being developed, including surveys [10] and tests [8], but finding and validating CT measures that assess CT consistently across different disciplines remains challenging.…”