Carol LaDeaux

School
Oglala/Loneman Middle School

How will I introduce Scalable Game Design in my school?

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Summer Class Notes
Formative Evaluation:


 * 1) Determine the Goal
 * 2) Check where the students are right now
 * 3) Determine what is needed to bridge the gap

(Example of evaluation using Frogger-specific Goals)


 * 1) Background design, Agent design, Agent behavior
 * 2) Evidence of computational thinking (Organization, Rates of change)
 * 3) Closure to the game
 * 4) Ability to articulate the rules of the game
 * 5) Ability to articulate purpose of game
 * 6) Ability to transfer this to future scenarios or simulations
 * 7) Ability to recreate project by self

(Grading: See Rubric Handout)

Simulations that can involve "Diffusion"


 * 1) Biology:Growth, Morphogenesis
 * 2) Physics:Gas particle diffusion; Heat diffusion; Particle diffusion
 * 3) Ecology:Migration
 * 4) Artificial Intelligence: Collaborative diffusion

Dates
6th Grade

Frogger (November) - 12 Students

7th Grade

Sokoban (September) - 12 Students PacMan (October) - 12 Students Simulation (November) - 12 students

8th Grade


 * Sokoban (September) - 12 Students
 * PacMan (October) - 12 Students
 * Simulation (November) - 12 students

Grades

 * All Middle School (6,7, and 8)

Time Frame

 * Frogger: (Survey,Agent Sheets, and Frogger )2 weeks
 * Sokoban: 2 weeks
 * Pacman: 2 weeks (Max 3 weeks)
 * Simulation: 2 weeks (Max 3 weeks)

Project Journal
June 8, 2010 I enjoyed creating PacMan today. I have been wanting to teach it but was a little afraid to do so because of all the problems we had with Ms. PacMan last summer. Now I feel much more confident about teaching it to my students who have already had Frogger and Sokoban. Getting the ghosts to track Pacman is always fun for me. I was glad to see the way other teachers present this material to their classes as well.I also learned the hard way to trust my own instincts with regard to the "Contagion" assignment instead of relying on the Tutorial (I don't think it works). I had to start over on that, but I was somewhat relieved since we started that lesson making sick kids only to be told later in the morning that we had to have them die as a requirement. :)

June 9, 2010 I'm getting a better understanding and liking for diffusion. There's a lot of neat possibilities with that. I've encountered some of the debugging issues we discussed already - like having agents stacked over other agents (Two frogs, for example). Next year, I may also try using rubrics for the assignments. Last year, not having every part done was not an option, so I never used one.

 

June 10, 2010 I like the way the Computational Thinking Quiz was done. I would like to try giving quizzes like that to my students. I know they would really love it. The classroom management piece was really good. Our school already follows the "set procedures" and "consistency" model. We spend a great deal of time on that every year, in fact. One thing that I need to work on personally is not shaming the students in front of the class when they are misbehaving. I tend to be a bit authoritarian, and that is something I will have to improve on for the next schoolyear.

June 11, 2010 It's been a great week. It really flew by! At this point I am just eager to check all the requirements for this course to make sure I have them all accomplished before I have to turn in the laptop. ha ha!!

Pacman Rubric (June 9,2010)
Basic Requirements

 Create all agents (Pacman, background, wall, ghost, dots)  Create worksheet  Make Pacman move with keys  Make Pacman eat dots  Make ghosts move at random  Pacman deflates when he collides with ghosts  Game generates message and sound and restarts after Pacman deflates  Game generates message and sound when all dots have been eaten  Upload game to Arcade  Play one other student’s game and review it online

Extra Credit

 Exceptional artwork (detailed, 3D, original, etc.)  Make ghosts track Pacman  More than 1 Level  Extra Lives  Keeping score  Power-Capsules: allow Pac Man to kill Ghosts and cause Ghosts to flee from Pac Man  Pacman eats ghosts  Ghosts regenerate  Fruit target generation and bonus score  Student’s own modification  Play more than one other student’s game and review it

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