Using game development to reveal programming competency

In the summer of 2011, we revamped the curriculum for the GLITCH Game Testers research project to better serve the interests of the 15 student participants. Our new curriculum, based on Greenfoot and game development, replaced an earlier curriculum that students felt was inauthentic. Through Greenfoot, the new curriculum had the benefits of authenticity, easy access to concepts that were relevant to the students, and immediate visual feedback, and these qualities helped align students' perceptions with their actual abilities to program based on what they had learned. We analyze students' reported abilities and their demonstrated abilities and show how the two align, and we suggest long-term implications for maintaining that alignment.