Title: Club Code
Context: Afterschool Club
Target Learners: 2nd-5th Graders
Subjects/Topics Covered: STREAM (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, and Math)
Duration: Club Code meets one-hour per week for 10 weeks.(10 hours total)
Game Design Task: Club Code will utilize curriculum adapted from Google’s CSFirst. As a part of Club Code, students will learn how to create a different type of game each week. Game formats include racing, platform, launching, escape, quest, etc. After learning about and creating different types of games, students will design their own game that includes multiple levels.
The Main Purpose of the Game Design Task: The main purpose of Club Code is to teach students the basics of coding and introduce them to the world of game design. Club Code provides students the opportunity to be creative, learning programming and problem-solving skills, and share their creations with other students. The game design tasks used in Club Code introduce coding concepts to students and progressively build knowledge and game design skills.
Software Selection and Justification
| Game Development Software | Scratch |
| Link | https://scratch.mit.edu/ |
| Description | Scratch allows students to program their own interactive stories, games, and animations. Created my MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten Group, Scratch is a well-established block-based coding program that be used online or downloaded for use offline. Teachers can register for educator accounts allow them to create classes, add students, group student work by project, and monitor student activity. The Scratch screen is divided into three sections. On the right side, designers can see the results of their code in action. On the left side, designers will see the code block. The workspace is in the center, which is where designers will put their code together. Game designers can build almost anything using code, including the actions of multiple sprites, or characters, screen elements, and add sounds, images, and textual elements. |
| Justification | Scratch is a well-established game design program that offers a range of entry points for students of all ages to learn how to code. Teachers can use Scratch in almost any subject area to support learning through exploration, practice, play, and collaboration. Scratch removes many of the obstacles beginners find difficult when learning to code. Once students learn the basics, Scratch serves as a springboard to other coding language such as Ruby, Swift, Java, or Python. The Scratch community provides a wealth of support for teachers and students. Regardless of ability, Scratch users will find tutorials, answers to questions, and inspiration to build their coding skills. |
Individual vs. Collaborative Game Design: Students will have the option to work individually or in teams to design their games. There are many benefits to students working collaboratively to design their game such as the expansion of ideas, motivation, and persistence.Even if students decide to work on an individual game design, they will still benefit from collaboration with their peers through informal knowledge sharing, playtesting, and feedback processes.
Procedures
Week 1: Gaming Story
During the first Club Code session, students will learn how CS First works. They will then create a gaming story using Scratch for CS First where a character walks through a scene describing what they see. Students will learn about sequencing, events, movement, and repeat blocks.
In every session, students will choose Add-ons to enhance their projects. Add-ons include flicker, vector characters, bitmap characters, costume changes, and sound. At the end of each session, students will share their projects with their feedback groups.
Week 2: Maze Game
In this lesson, students create a game in which the player guides a sprite through a maze. Maze games must include a character/player, obstacles, and a goal. In addition, students need to program a unique celebration for users who win the game. Students can select a starter project or create their own maze game. Students will learn control flow (if-then statements) and conditions (Boolean blocks). Students will be introduced to new add-ons including spinning obstacles, overtaken, revenge, keeping time, and redesign the maze.
Week 3: Platform Game
In Week 3, students will create and learn about platform games. Students will program a player sprite to move and jump across platforms when arrow keys are pressed. As in week 2, students can select a starter project or create their own, but they must include 2 sprites in their game design. Platform games require students to use if-then statements, forever loops, and create a winning condition. Add-ons include celebrations, moving platforms, shrinking platforms, losing conditions, and music loops.
Week 4: Escape Game
Students will create an escape game in which players must avoid other sprites that move randomly. Users can increase their scores by avoiding the sprites. New topic introduced during week 4 include variables and randomness. Students do NOT have the option to use a starter project in week 4. Successful game designs include two sprites, including a chaser sprite, a backdrop, and a way to keep score. Add-ons for this week include play a sound if caught, multi-player, speed up, and high score.
Week 5: Launcher Game
In this lesson, students will create a launcher game that utilizes key press events, clones, and variables. In this game, players must launch and navigate a sprite across a screen of bouncing enemies. New topics introduced include clones/spawning enemies and increased game difficulty. Add-ons include a finish line cheer, shrinking finish line, and bonus points.
Week 6: Quest Game
In week 6, students will learn how to use storytelling in game design while building an RPG style Quest Game. Students will learn to broadcast events, create exits and entrances, and hide an object in one location within the game. Add-ons include peek-a-boo, musical objects, obstacle obstructions, and hide and seek.
Weeks 7-10: Game Design
During weeks 7-10, students will work individually or in groups to design a game with at least three levels. Students can use any of the game formats or add-ons from previous weeks. Additional add-ons are available include escape, dynamic dialogue, change setting, between the scenes, what’s the password, and secret door. Students can choose from one of four story premises or select their own. Story premise options include: a.)The knight must get past a dragon., b.) One alien feels different from the other aliens., c.) A ballerina is scared to dance on stage., or d.) A creature is out in the cold and needs shelter.
Research Questions
R1: What do students learn from the game design?
R2: What impact does Club Code have on students’ interest in game design?
Research Design: I would use a qualitative case study approach to explore the impact of Club Code on students’ interest in game design and to determine what students learned throughout the program. Classroom observations, participants’ games, feedback forms, reflection sheets, and interviews would be used to collect data.