Assignment 4

Based on my experience from the game design document, I decided to go with a tighter focused game project. You can read about my troubles in the reflections section at the bottom of that post.

Title

Water Worx

Context

Summer Camp

Target Learners

High School Students

Subjects/Topics Covered

  • Computer Sciences
  • Physics

Duration

The game should be created in about 40 hours. No more than two hours a day is expected for the duration of four weeks.

Game Design Task

The students will be coming up with their own game with only the following guidance:

  • It must demonstrate the flow of liquid.
  • It must present challenges to complete the level.
  • At least five levels that get progressively more difficult are required.

The Main Purpose of the Game Design Task

The game design will allow students to demonstrate a working knowledge of how gravity and physics affect liquids. By creating a game with these concepts, they will show how much learning was accomplished in the camp.

Software Selection and Justification

Scratch

Description

Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations.

Students can use Scratch to code their own interactive stories, animations, and games. In the process, they learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively  — essential skills for everyone in today’s society. Educators are integrating Scratch across many different subject areas and age groups.

Justification

Having used scratch to previously design a game, I know it would fit the needs for the requirements in this activity. I also believe that it teaches programming concepts well without the need to memorize syntax, formats, and other tedious and language-specific characteristics.

Individual vs. Collaborative Game Design

This is an individual activity with collaborative exercises. Several times a week, each student will be randomly assigned to a new partner or group for the purpose of validating ideas and designs off of other people. Students that are already familiar with Scratch and have completed their work, may assist other students with their progress in order to earn bonus credit; for me, this will mean they can get choose a snack from my personal stash.

Procedures

The camp is 6 weeks long. This activity will be for the middle four weeks. During the initial week of camp, the students will learn the basics of programming and game design. During the four weeks of the activity, the students will learn concepts at the beginning of the day that can be directly applied to the progress of their individual activity.

Week One

The first week will include the following introductory activities:

  • Create a concept for the game; ideas should not be given to the students, but here are a few for the teachers:
    • Liquid flowing from tubes needs to hit the target.
    • Liquid needs to fill a target container.
    • Liquid needs to be removed from a target container.
  • Pick a design theme, browse the internet for existing artwork or ideas for creating own.
    • If creating own, create a few samples on the computer to ensure capabilities.
  • Sketch levels on paper.
  • Design in-game tutorial on paper.
  • Get an approval of the game design from the teacher.

Week Two

  • Create and gather artwork; keep track of acquired open-artwork for the game credits.
  • Create initial game flow, including proceeding to next levels with button clicks instead of level-completion.
  • Start creating levels.
  • Constantly practice play-through to ensure game functions as expected.

Week Three

  • Create and finalize at least five levels; more is fine but do not get overwhelmed.
  • Constantly practice play-through to ensure game functions as expected.
  • Recruit beta testers to play your game and provide feedback.

Week Four

  • Create an in-game tutorial.
  • Finalize changes to the game based on beta tester feedback.
  • Play and review each other’s games.
  • Final day: reflect individually on the challenges and experiences of the activity. Share with the class.

Research Questions

This activity would allow me to conduct a simple research study to answer a few questions about game design and development:

  • Do the introvert or extrovert students consistently perform better?
  • Does gender affect performance?
  • Does previous knowledge affect performance?

Research Design

The data from this study will be collected using the introduction phase of the class (week one), through observation, and through the shared reflections:

  • During the introductory phase, students will be asked to explain any previous experience with graphics design, game design, and Scratch. They will also be asked to design a simple tic-tac-toe or chase game; they will only be graded on effort.
  • During the course of the class, students will be required to engage with other students in the class. This is the perfect opportunity for evaluating whether students are either heavily introverted, heavily extroverted, or somewhere in between.
  • During the reflection portion of the class, students will be required to write about their individual challenges and experiences. Students will be asked to share whatever portions of those reflections they are comfortable with sharing.