Towards an Educational Computing Career Exploration Game

Abstract

Professionals with programming abilities are in high demand, but despite this urgent need, there is a lack of student interest. Researchers argue that in order to increase interest in computing, students require more opportunities for early familiarization, an understanding of how computing can make contributions to society, greater exposure to programming, online self-learning, internships, more visible role models and exemplars, and greater connections to the real world. This project aims to create a game that allows players to perform tasks from three computing jobs (web development, game development, and data science). Using the game as a testbed, the first study will develop an understanding of how different game design decisions affect the career game’s effectiveness at engendering career-related and player-related outcomes. The second study will develop an understanding of how the career game as a whole influence career-related and player-related outcomes. The career game will be an informal learning environment that can be accessed by anyone with a desktop computer.