research-article

Children Programming Games: A Strategy for Measuring Computational Learning

Authors:

Shannon CampeAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE), Volume 14, Issue 4

Article No.: 24, Pages 1 - 22

https://doi.org/10.1145/2677091

Published: 23 December 2014 Publication History

Abstract

This article reports the results of a study of the relationship of computer game programming to computational learning (CL). The results contribute to the growing body of knowledge about how to define and measure CL among children by proposing a new concept, Game Computational Sophistication (GCS). We analyzed 231 games programmed by 325 11 and 12 year olds with a range of prior computer experience who attended a voluntary technology class during or after school. Findings suggest that students’ games exhibited a range of GCS: programs composed of sequences of simple programming constructs; programs composed of programming constructs, some of which are used to implement higher-order patterns; and programs composed of game mechanics built from combinations of patterns “glued” together with simple programming constructs. We use case studies of students’ games to illustrate how variation in the use and integration of programming constructs, patterns, and game mechanics can be used to demonstrate evidence of CL. The study contributes to an understanding of what CL looks like in middle school, how to assess it, and how game-programming activities might promote CL.

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Index Terms

Children Programming Games: A Strategy for Measuring Computational Learning
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Computing education programs
        Computer science education

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Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Computing Education

ACM Transactions on Computing Education Volume 14, Issue 4

February 2015

116 pages

EISSN:1946-6226

DOI:10.1145/2698235

Editors:
Robert McCartney
University of Connecticut, USA
,
Josh Tenenberg
University of Washington,Tacoma, USA

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Copyright © 2014 ACM.

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Association for Computing Machinery

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Publication History

Published: 23 December 2014

Accepted: 01 March 2014

Revised: 01 March 2014

Received: 01 August 2013

Published in TOCE Volume 14, Issue 4

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https://doi.org/10.22430/22565337.2950
Chugh RTurnbull D(2023)Gamification in education: A citation network analysis using CitNetExplorerContemporary Educational Technology10.30935/cedtech/1286315:2(ep405)Online publication date: 2023
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