Facilitating computational thinking through game design

Abstract

While in the last decade the advancement of computer technology and the ever-expanding popularity of digital games have become increasingly evident, the potential of using educational games for learning in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects has not been brought to the forefront for exhaustive investigations. This study delineates the design and development, the instruction, and evaluation of a digital game-based curriculum focusing on teaching computational thinking in an after-school game design workshop in a middle school in Taiwan. Through examining students' participation in game design programs, the researchers investigate the emergence of computational thinking skills in a group of middle school students. Taking into account the middle school students' emergent skills to think logically and abstractly, we argue that digital game-based learning (DGBL) via game design is a viable pedagogical tool for teaching students to think computationally as they engage in problem-solving tasks. The researchers pose that following the workshop, students would be able to perform the fundamental skills of computational thinking-decomposition, pattern recognition, pattern generalization and abstractions, algorithm design, and data visualization. The students would also demonstrate the capability to incorporate computational thinking skills into scenarios outside of the purview of the game environment. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.