Jill Denner

Computer games created by middle school girls: Can they be used to measure understanding of computer science concepts?

Computer game programming has been touted as a promising strategy for engaging children in the kinds of thinking that will prepare them to be producers, not just users of technology. But little is known about what they learn when programming a game. In this article, we present a strategy for coding student games, and summarize the results of an analysis of 108 games created by middle school girls using Stagecast Creator in an after school class. The findings show that students engaged in moderate levels of complex programming activity, created games with moderate levels of usability, and that the games were characterized by low levels of code organization and documentation. These results provide evidence that game construction involving both design and programming activities can support the learning of computer science concepts.

The fairy performance assessment: measuring computational thinking in middle school

Computational thinking (CT) has been described as an essential capacity to prepare students for computer science, as well as to be productive members of society. But efforts to engage K-12 students in CT are hampered by a lack of definition and assessment tools. In this paper, we describe the first results of a newly created performance assessment tool for measuring CT in middle school. We briefly describe the context for the performance assessment (game-programming courses), the aspects of CT that are measured, the results, and the factors that are associated with performance. We see the development of assessment tools as a critical step in efforts to bring CT to K-12, and to strengthen the use of game programming in middle school. We discuss problems and implications of our results.

The Girls Creating Games Program: Strategies for Engaging Middle-School Girls in Information Technology

There is a clear need to increase girls’ leadership in technology. The number of female undergraduates in computer science declined from 37 percent in 1984 to 27 percent in 1997.1 Females make up only 20 percent of high school students who take the advanced placement test in computer science.2 Hispanic females make up the smallest percentage of any group, comprising only 1 percent of all computer science AP test takers in 1999.3 These statistics show the need for interventions that can increase the interest and ability of female students to persist in computer science classes, and ultimately in computer technology-related careers. In this paper, we describe Girls Creating Games (GCG), an after-school and summer program for sixththrough eighth-grade girls designed to address the barriers to girls’ active participation in information technology (IT). As others have done in coed settings,4 we put girls in the role of designer by teaching them to program an interactive computer game.

Middle school girls + games programming = information technology fluency

In this paper we describe an after-school program that aims to develop information technology (IT) fluency by teaching middle school girls to make computer games. We focus on IT fluency rather than IT literacy because to participate in the current and future world of technology, students must develop fluency in three kinds of IT knowledge: contemporary skills, fundamental concepts, and intellectual capabilities rather than just literacy skills. The acquisition of fluency is more likely to happen in the context of a program like ours because of its emphasis on project-based work and a collaborative learning environment utilizing pair programming. The details of how IT fluency knowledge was acquired in the game programming part of our program are published elsewhere, so we only summarize those results here. The focus of this paper is on how participants have made substantial strides toward IT fluency due to aspects of our program as a whole. In this paper we provide many examples of how our program leads to IT fluency by addressing not just contemporary IT skills, but also intellectual capabilities and fundamental IT concepts.

Children learning computer science concepts via Alice game-programming

Programming environments that incorporate drag-and-drop methods and many pre-defined objects and operations are being widely used in K-12 settings. But can middle school students learn complex computer science concepts by using these programming environments when computer science is not the focus of the course? In this paper, we describe a semester-long game-programming course where 325 middle school students used Alice. We report on our analysis of 231 final games where we measured the frequency of successful execution of programming constructs. Our results show that many games exhibit successful uses of high level computer science concepts such as student-created abstractions, concurrent execution, and event handlers.We discuss the implications of these results for designing effective game programming courses for young students.

COMPUTER PROGRAMMING IN MIDDLE SCHOOL: HOW PAIRS RESPOND TO CHALLENGES*

Many believe that girls lack the confidence and motivation to persist with computers when they face a challenge. In order to increase the number of girls and women in information technology careers, we need a better understanding of how they think about and solve problems while working on the computer. In this article, we describe a qualitative study of 126 middle school girls who designed and programmed computer games in an after-school and summer program. Using data from electronic notebooks, we describe how girls thought about the problems they had while programming their games and the strategies they used in their efforts to solve them. Audiotape transcripts were also coded to show how girls talk about challenges and the steps they take to address them when programming a game on the computer. The findings are interpreted in terms of how to promote information technology fluency starting in middle school.

Children Programming Games: A Strategy for Measuring Computational Learning

This article reports the results of a study of the relationship of computer game programming to computational learning (CL). The results contribute to the growing body of knowledge about how to define and measure CL among children by proposing a new concept, Game Computational Sophistication (GCS). We analyzed 231 games programmed by 325 11 and 12 year olds with a range of prior computer experience who attended a voluntary technology class during or after school. Findings suggest that students’ games exhibited a range of GCS: programs composed of sequences of simple programming constructs; programs composed of programming constructs, some of which are used to implement higher-order patterns; and programs composed of game mechanics built from combinations of patterns “glued” together with simple programming constructs. We use case studies of students’ games to illustrate how variation in the use and integration of programming constructs, patterns, and game mechanics can be used to demonstrate evidence of CL. The study contributes to an understanding of what CL looks like in middle school, how to assess it, and how game-programming activities might promote CL.

Pair Programming: Under What Conditions Is It Advantageous for Middle School Students?

Abstract Pair programming is a strategy that grew out of industry and has shown promise for performance and retention in computer programming courses at universities and in industry. In this study, we examine whether pair programming is effective in K–12, what it is effective for, and how partners influence each other. We collected the data from 320 middle school students working alone or with a partner on a game programming task. Compared to working alone, pair programming was advantageous for computational thinking and for building programming knowledge, particularly among less experienced students. Students’ initial computer experience and attitude toward collaboration influenced their partners. Those with more experience relative to their partner achieved greater computer confidence and more positive attitudes toward computing. When students had a more positive attitude toward collaboration (relative to their partner), their programming knowledge decreased. We discuss implications for pairing students and for future research.

An Exploratory Study of Adolescent Pimping Relationships

In the last decade, public attention to the problem of commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) has grown. This exploratory qualitative study examines adolescent pimping relationships, including how urban youth perceive these types of relationships. Study data stem from interviews with three young adult informants with first-hand knowledge of adolescent pimping, as well as three gender-specific focus group discussions with a convenience sample of 26 urban high school students who have first- or second-hand knowledge of adolescent pimping. Findings indicate that respondents believe teen pimping exists in their schools and communities, and that those exploited typically do not self-identify as victims. Respondents also believed that younger pimps are more likely to use violence to induce compliance among the girls they exploit, whereas older pimps are more likely to emotionally manipulate young women into exploitation. Further, respondents indicated that some young people agreed to exchange or sell sex for money as a favor to their boyfriends or girlfriends, and some young people believed that selling sex is acceptable under certain circumstances. The growing attention to CSEC provides an important opportunity to expand prevention efforts to reach those most affected and at risk for exploitation. The findings highlight critical areas for augmenting traditional content in school-based HIV/STI and sexuality education classes.

Learning from friends: measuring influence in a dyadic computer instructional setting

Data collected from partners in a dyadic instructional setting are, by definition, not statistically independent. As a consequence, conventional parametric statistical analyses of change and influence carry considerable risk of bias. In this article, we illustrate a strategy to overcome this obstacle: the longitudinal actor-partner interdependence model (APIM). Participants included 60 girls and 100 boys enrolled in public middle schools, who ranged in age from 10 to 14 at the outset. Students worked in pairs assigned by teachers. At the beginning and end of the instructional period, students completed surveys rating the degree to which the partner was a friend, confidence in ones own computing skills, and computer programming knowledge. APIM analyses revealed partner influence over the acquisition of computer programming skills among friends but not nonfriends. Students with higher initial levels of confidence in their own computing skills were more apt to be influenced by friends. This association was especially strong when confident partners were paired with friends who knew relatively more about computer programming.