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The field of games and learning has exploded in the last decade, but most of this work focuses on game play, rather than on the creation of games. A growing number of freely available and novice-friendly game authoring tools has led to increased interest in the educational benefits of computer game programming (CGP). Despite this interest, little is known about what novices learn from CGP, due in part to assessment-related challenges. In this article, we describe a strategy for assessing whether CGP can engage students in computational thinking, which involves formulating as well as solving complex problems.
The ability to solve complex problems is a characteristic found in most lists of essential 21st century skills (Computer Science Teachers Association, 2011). Complex problem solving (CPS) involves tasks that are dynamic (each action changes the environment), time dependent, and complex (require a collection of decisions that determine later ones) (Quesada, Kintsch, & Gomez, 2005). Efforts to study these features have focused on how students attempt to solve problems, but we argue that the design of a complex problem is particularly relevant to computer-based CPS. Designing and programming a game is what Jonassen (2000) has described as a ‘design problem;’ it is ill-structured, which means the student defines the goal, the solution path, and how to evaluate the solution. The task of programming a game offers the opportunity for students to engage in CPS tasks, but it also allows them to create complex problems (for the game player).
We examine CPS in the context of middle school students making computer games. The “problem” is the situation that the game creator has formulated for the player to deal with. For example, games can include situations that are dynamic, where the task environment is a system that is influenced by and influences the player’s actions. In addition, games can include features that are time dependent; for example, the challenge of a game is increased by a time limit in which the tasks must be completed. Finally, games can be complex in that a decision or series of decisions during game play determine the available game play decisions and outcomes.