Much research attention has been focused on learning through game playing. However, very little has been focused on student learning through game making, especially in science. Moreover, none of the studies on learning through making games has presented an account of how students engage in the process of game design in real time. The present study…

This article builds on prior work that aims to measure computational learning (CL) during middle school. Since game computational sophistication (GCS) has been used as a proxy for a student's engagement in CL we build on their model to more completely describe the relationship between different types of building blocks of computer games and GCS.…

Pair programming is a collaborative learning mode to foster novice learners' computer programming. Previous empirical research has reported contrasting conclusions about the effect of pair programming on student learning. To further understand students' pair programming, this study uses a mixed method to analyze three contrasting pairs'…

The purpose of this study is to design a digital game design-based STEM activity for fifth-grade students learning about endangered organisms and significance of biodiversity for living. This activity was carried out with twenty students in a public school in Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey during academic year of 2018-2019 spring term. This…

This article proposes and explores the kinds of computational thinking, creative practices, design activities, and inclusive learning opportunities provided to diverse high school youth when designing integrated systems through simultaneously physically and digitally responsive wearable games and systems. Previous work in this area, conducted by…

The purpose of this study was to measure the impacts of mobile serious games on fifth grade students' attitudes towards "Information Technology and Software" course and understanding of programming concepts. For this purpose, a five weeks long study was conducted in a private primary school in Turkey with randomly selected 36 fifth grade…

Background and Context: Pair programming is used in classrooms to promote learning and engage a more diverse group of students in computing fields, but little is known about what it looks like in middle school. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine how programming pairs were interacting and about what. Method: Video, audio, and screen…

This paper situates a critical review of studies that we have conducted within the broader research literature to analyze the affordances of integrating modeling within disciplinarily-integrated games from computational thinking and science as practice perspectives. Across the studies, the analyses pursue two themes: (a) the role of agent-based…

The ability to code computer programs is considered an important part of literacy in today's society. This paper reports from a case study in two sixth-grade classes where Scratch coding was part of six mathematics lessons. The aim of the study was to investigate how Scratch coding affected students' interest development in coding and in…

Although there are over 320,000 health and fitness apps available on major app stores, there is scant evidence that they actually promote a healthier lifestyle, assist users in exercising, or promote weight loss. This article presents a lesson plan using an Arduino for integrating computational thinking and game design with middle school students…

This study aims to assess the effects of teaching programming with mBlock on self-efficacy perceptions and attitudes considering programming. Particularly, this study tries to research whether there is a gender difference in middle school students or not. The study was conducted in pre-test/post-test quasi experimental design. The participants of…

Short-term outreach interventions are conducted to raise young students' awareness of the computer science (CS) field. Typically, these interventions are targeted at K--12 students, attempting to encourage them to study CS in higher education. This study is based on a series of extra-curricular outreach events that introduced students to the…

Aim/Purpose: When learning to program, both text-based and visual-based input methods are common. However, it is unclear which method is more appropriate for first-time learners (first learners). Background: The differences in the learning effect between text-based and visual-based input methods for first learners are compared the using a…

Despite the growing popularity of teaching children to program games, little is known about the benefits for learning. In this article, the authors propose that game mechanics can be used as a window into how the children are thinking and describe a strategy for using them to analyze students' games. The study involved sixty 10-14 year old…

"Game Maker" is widely used in UK secondary schools, yet under-researched in that context. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative case study that explores how authoring computer games using "Game Maker" can support the learning of basic programming concepts in a mainstream UK secondary setting. The research draws on…