He was never a good student. Bored in the classroom, he would rarely raise his hand, shuffling reluctantly from class to class, obviously unengaged. When his middle school offered a game design class he enrolled apprehensively, but the prospect of building his own game piqued his interest. By mid-semester he was incorporating Artificial Intelligence into his design. “The fact that advanced math dealing with diffusion equations was necessary to build this AI was not a problem,” said Dr. Alexander Repenning, Director and creator of the Scalable Game Design project. “He literally raised his hand and said ‘Excuse me! I need better AI’.” Unfazed by complex computations, the student began to appreciate mathematics for the first time.
So what happens when you take an idea and turn it on its head? In 2008, the Scalable Game Design project originated to challenge the belief that the best way to use games in the classroom is to provide students with well-designed and engaging educational games.
Studies have shown that certain games have the potential to boost learning by helping student to understand complicated subjects through interactive play. There are several projects at CU Boulder alone that focus primarily on designing educational games (and game-like simulations) for students to use in the classroom. But what if the graduate students designing the games are learning more than the students playing them? This was a question that Dr. Repenning had back in 1993. Designing and constructing games is a complicated process that involves complex mathematical reasoning, programming and computational skills – technical knowledge that is infamously difficult to teach on the K-12 level. In 2008, Scalable Game Design was founded: a project aimed not at designing games for students to use, but at teaching students to learn computational thinking through game design.
According to Repenning, Scalable Game Design’s “short’ motto is: “reinventing computer science in public schools by motivating and educating all students including women and underrepresented communities to learn about computer science through game design starting at the middle school level.” Although the project was initially created for a middle school curriculum, the program has expanded over time to include elementary, high school, and college level courses. The project received $1.5M in 2008 (under the NSF Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers ITEST program) and another $1.5 in 2012 (under the NSF Computing Education for the 21st Century CE21 program.)
It is important to note that the goal is not necessarily to educate future game designers. Rather, Scalable Game Design hopes that students enrolled in the program will develop computational and programming skills in a way that is fun and engaging. Research has also shown that students involved in the program gain a general appreciation for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). “Computational skills are becoming more relevant these days and are considered 21’st century skills,” says Repenning. Few K-12 schools offer classes that teach students this technical knowledge and fewer still encourage students to use this knowledge to build and create.
When asked what the future might hold, Repenning describes a “cyber learning environment” that will allow teachers to reach students more effectively. “We have developed very interesting new instruments that can actually analyze games and simulations built by students. This ability to judge where students are in their learning (boredom, anxiety…) could be used to create a complete cyber learning system including a feedback loop to get student into the so-called zone of proximal development where, with the right support, they can learn most effectively.” In 2008, the iDreams Scalable Game Design Summer Institute was started. Involving 100 teachers and thousands of students, there was an unexpectedly high level of participation.
Of course, even well-funded education initiatives face challenges. The biggest one, Repenning says, is “scale-up and sustainability.” He talks about better training for teachers and encouraging schools to incorporate more classes that emphasize computational thinking. In an age where schools face constant budget cuts, money and time are always obstacles. The need to adhere to state testing requirements often leaves little opportunity for students and teachers to work creatively with technology.
Despite these challenges, it seems clear that even a single class can make a difference. The middle school student mentioned at the beginning of this article eventually went on to tutor some of his classmates. In an attempt to share his newfound fascination with Artificial Intelligence, he passed on his knowledge about diffusion equations to half his class.
In this way, Scalable Game Design is upending more than one convention. Instead of designing games for students, students are taught to design the games themselves, and, as tends to happen in successful and dynamic learning environments, sometimes the students being taught become the teachers. By empowering just one student, Scalable Game Design indirectly helped to jumpstart a wider, student-driven learning community. This may be the most exciting success story of all.
To learn more or to talk to Dr. Alexander Repenning, please visit the Scalable Game Design Wiki (http://scalablegamedesign.cs.colorado.edu/wiki/Scalable_Game_Design_wiki) or call 303-492-1349
Article By: Ashley E Williams
