Unlike the solar calendar which marks January as the beginning of the new year, my new year, like that of all teachers, begins in September. A new school year means new beginnings and new opportunities. I couldn’t wait for this school year to start because I was determined to make a difference in how my students perceived computer science.
My goal for the 2011-2012 school year was to inspire my students to consider computer programming as a viable creative outlet. I felt that over the past three years, while I had been successful at teaching them programming concepts, few had fully embraced the medium. What was I doing wrong?
I decided to explore the question of inspiring my students in further detail. I began by scouring the internet for inspiration. Not surprisingly, I found plenty of generic suggestions on how to engage students in the learning process Some examples were to:
(1) make it real by creating learning activities that are based on topics relevant to students’ lives,
(2) provide choices so that students feel some sense of autonomy in the learning process, or
(3) provide students with role models that help them to identify with the subject matter.
Not bad. I could work with these recommendations.
Unfortunately, I had another hurdle. How could I overcome the negative stereotype of the computer programmer as a socially awkward young man who spends his days hiding in his parents’ basement working 12 to 16 hours a day on his computer? (McConnell, Steve. Orphans Preferred. Chapter 7. http://www.stevemcconnell.com/psd/07-OrphansPreferred.pdf) In addition, USA Today reported that because the techie nerd stereotype is so well entrenched, students in every grade ranked computer jobs near the bottom of their lists of career choices. (USA Today, February 16, 1998, pp. 1B – 2B.)
How was I to overcome decades of negative stereotypes and gender type casting? How was I to reach my students? All of them. Not just the ones who already found computers exciting.
I went back to the internet. This time I focused my research on locating articles that would provide insight into what students like and how computers could support these preferences. I discovered that I could tap into recreational activities that my students were already enjoying, specifically computer games, to capture their attention. By leveraging students’ interest in video games, I hoped to replace the negative perception of computer programming with the allure of computer gamming. At the same time I hoped to entice students to explore computer programming in more detail while possibly helping them to discover a new passion.
According to Allyson Peerman, president of the AMD Foundation (the philanthropic division of Advanced Micro Devices, a computer chip manufacturer), “We know from research that playing games provides some STEM skills, but when [students] get involved with creating games, those skills [and interest] go up exponentially”.
I decided to tap into my students’ love of computer games by assigning them the task of creating computer games using Scratch that would teach either mathematics or language arts skills to younger students. I was surprised at how quickly they embraced this goal. They couldn’t wait to get started. One student (a fifth grader) even eagerly suggested a programming competition, where students would present their projects to the younger students, who would then decide which games they enjoyed the most. I was thrilled with their enthusiasm. Is real learning occurring? Yes it is. And are my students having fun? Yes they are.
It is too soon to know how successful the computer games will be at teaching the younger students, but I hope that once the programs are completed and presented, both groups will have benefited from the experience. The older students will have a sense of accomplishment for having created real-world applications and the younger students will have a new and exciting game to use for drill and practice.
Recently, I complemented one of my younger students (a third grader) on his computer skills, and he responded that he loves computers, and that he wants to be a computer technology teacher when he grows up, just like me. So it seems that developing computer games with an educational purpose definitely motivates my students.
Will this interest last into middle school and beyond? I don’t know. All I do know is that it seems to have captured their attention for the moment, and for that I am grateful. Maybe their excitement will inspire administrators, parents and teachers to consider computer science an important educational directive for the future. Because, as I see it, computer science is more than just programming computer games. But don’t tell my students.
Patrice Gans
CSTA K-8 Representative