Exploring adolescent's STEM learning through scaffolded game design

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of two case studies concentrating on the learning experiences of disadvantaged middle school children participating in The Science and Art of Game Design (SAGD) and Globaloria, learning environments intended to teach skills in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, through educational game design within informal and school-based settings. In SAGD, youth are introduced to the STEM principles underlying modern computer games through a two-part curriculum that takes a reverse engineering approach to educational game design. It begins with Gamestar Mechanic, a web-based role-playing game that encourages students to think of games as systems made up of game-specific components and principles that are learned by playing games, repairing dysfunctional games, and creating new ones for sharing and critique in an online communities [1]. The second part encourages them to learn to use these design principles and apply them to solving of problems requiring computational thinking [2] within the design of games centered on STEM subjects using Microsoft Kodu, a Microsoft 3D game creation tool. Globaloria is a learning environment designed for middle school classrooms where students learn STEM concepts in the process of learning to design computer games using the Adobe Flash platform. Globaloria classrooms are designed around constructionist pedagogies, and feature a project-based curriculum supported by a framework of Web 2.0 technologies, and an online community of school classrooms, educators, and professional game designers. Using multimodal content and discourse analysis, the study examined the evolution of students' STEM learning and literacy in these two contexts, as a function of their changes in language use, design strategies, and game artifact production. Findings suggest that scaffolded game design can provide an effective context for students to develop deep understandings and engagement with STEM subjects, in forms valued within the 21st century workplace.