Children as educational computer game designers: An Exploratory study

Abstract

This study investigated how children designed computer games as artifacts that reflected their understanding of nutrition. Ten 5th grade students were asked to design computer games with the software Game Maker for the purpose of teaching 1st graders about nutrition. The results from the case study show that students were able to express their personal thoughts and intentions by designing and developing realistic computer games in a complex programming environment. Our findings point to gender implications and other contextual factors that motivated social interaction around game design and programming strategies. © The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology.