Colin B. Price

The usability of a commercial game physics engine to develop physics educational materials: An investigation

Commercial computer games contain “physics engine” components, responsible for providing realistic interactions among game objects. The question naturally arises of whether these engines can be used to develop educational materials for high school and university physics education. To answer this question, the authors group recently conducted a detailed scientific investigation of the physics engine of Unreal Tournament 2004 (UT2004). This article presents their motivation, methodology, and results. The author presents the findings of experiments that probed the accessibility and fidelity of UT2004s physics engine, examples of educational materials developed, and an evaluation of their use in high school classes. The associated pedagogical implications of this approach are discussed, and the author suggests guidelines for educators on how to deploy the approach. Key resources are presented on an associated Web site.

A Crisis in Physics Education: Games to the Rescue!

Abstract An education in Physics develops both strong cognitive and practical skills. These are well-matched to the needs of employers, from engineering to banking. Physics provides the foundation for all engineering and scientific disciplines including computing technologies, aerospace, communication, and also biosciences and medicine. In academe, Physics addresses fundamental questions about the universe, the nature of reality, and of the complex socio-economic systems comprising our daily lives. Yet today, there are emerging concerns about Physics education: Secondary school interest in Physics is falling, as is the number of Physics school teachers. There is clearly a crisis in physics education; recent research has identified principal factors. Starting from a review of these factors, and from recommendations of professional bodies, this paper proposes a novel solution — the use of Computer Games to teach physics to school children, to university undergraduates and to teacher-trainees.

From Kandinsky to Java (The Use of 20th Century Abstract Art in Learning Programming)

Abstract At the University of Worcester we are continually striving to find new approaches to the learning and teaching of programming, to improve the quality of learning and the student experience. Over the past three years we have used the contexts of robotics, computer games, and most recently a study of Abstract Art to this end. This paper discusses our motivation for using Abstract Art as a context, details our principles and methodology, and reports on an evaluation of the student experience. Our basic tenet is that one can view the works of artists such as Kandinsky, Klee and Malevich as Object-Oriented (OO) constructions. Discussion of these works can therefore be used to introduce OO principles, to explore the meaning of classes, methods and attributes and finally to synthesize new works of art through Java code. This research has been conducted during delivery of an “Advanced OOP (Java)” programming module at final-year Undergraduate level, and during a Masters’ OO-Programming (Java) module. This allows a comparative evaluation of novice and experienced programmers’ learning. In this paper, we identify several instructional factors which emerge from our approach, and reflect upon the associated pedagogy. A Catalogue of ArtApplets is provided at the associated web-site.

Stories children write while coding: a cross-disciplinary approach for the primary classroom

Abstract This paper presents research on how children aged 5–11 can create stories through computer programming (coding). A novel ‘Story-Writing-Coding’ engine is introduced where children realise their imagined stories through code that results in animations representing their stories. Analysis of how they manipulated code to represent story meaning is presented, together with a hypothetical model of the strategies they used in composition. Using the context of multimodal literacy, it is argued that coding can be thought of as a form of literacy and that taking this perspective may lead to benefits for children as both literacy learners and also learners of computer programming. While the authors have worked with 103 children, the results presented in this paper are drawn from an in-depth analysis of 20 stories with associated code together with observations by the authors. It was found that children are able to manipulate code creatively to obtain meaningful stories and successfully use the modes of print, static and moving images.

Flash vulnerabilities analysis of US educational websites

With the increase in online and web learning, schools are building the number of web-based applications using media like Flash. However, sites that use Flash and other types of media encounter problems with security. Issues are raised with how to protect personal data that are entered via these sites. The purpose of this study is to determine if Flash-based web application at US educational institutions protect the personal data of their consumers, and what levels of security vulnerability are shown. The research also shows the main types of security problems that are shown in the schools sites. To mitigate these vulnerabilities and provide a higher level of security during development, technical, procedural and managerial recommendations are presented.

Introducing Game Development into the Computing Curriculum: a Progressive Methodology

Abstract The Computer Game industry is big business, the demand for graduates is high, indeed there is a continuing shortage of skilled employees. As with most professions, the skill set required is both specific and diverse. There are currently over 30 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the UK offering Computer games related courses. We expect that as the demand from the industry is sustained, more HEIs will respond with the introduction of game-related degrees. This is quite a considerable undertaking involving many issues from integration of new modules or complete courses within the existing curriculum, to staff development. In this paper we share our experiences of introducing elements of game development into our curriculum. This has occurred over the past two years, starting with the inclusion of elements of game development into existing programming modules, followed by the validation of complete modules, and culminating in a complete degree course. Our experience is that our adopting an progressive approach to development, spread over a number of years, was crucial in achieving a successful outcome.