Teaching Tools & Tips

= Tutorials and Lesson Plans =

Teaching Scalable Game Design in your classroom is easier than ever using the following tools:

How to Teach Frogger Design (with tutorials and lesson plans)

How to Teach PacMan Design (wtih tutorials and lesson plans)

How to Teach Sokoban Design (with tutorials and lesson plans)

How to Teach Space Invaders Design (with tutorials)

How to Teach Forest Fire Simulation Design (with tutorial and lesson plan)

How to Teach Contagion Simulation Designs (with tutorial and lesson plan)

How to Make a Sims Game Design (with tutorial)

Simulation Tutorials (with examples)

= Computational Thinking Video Quiz =

This Video Survey is a useful and fun tool to use to assess how your students are doing internalizing Computational Thinking (CT) patterns.

The survey can be used as an INSTRUCTIONAL TOOL with the entire class working together, or by having each student complete the survey individually.

The research team is currently not collecting data from the survey results. We will soon publish a Version 2 Video Survey for data collection purposes.

For all new participant teachers, the students should select the option for "school not listed" and "teacher not listed" and type in his/her school and teacher name.

1. First...Go to the Links Below and Take the Video Survey Yourself, on the Computers Your Students Will Use
Both surveys are the same content; they just operate on different video formats.

Original version: www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22B8SBXPVZE

(can also use - SGD Video YouTube)

Quicktime version: www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22BB7RW76Y7

(can also use - SGDVidQuickTime)

FOR THE QT VERSION: If you use PCs, use with Internet Explorer (not Firefox).

If you use Macs, use with Safari.

Look for these things as you complete the survey:

a) Do the videos work in your computer lab? If the videos don't work, what browser are you using?

b) If the videos work, what is the general quality? Is the streaming adequate to observe the video or is it too jerky? Are there excessive delays in downloading any of the videos (more than 10 sec)?

2. Instructions for Teachers
Administer this survey toward the end of a unit (withing the last week) or after students have completed a unit. This CT Assessment can be administered before or after students have completed the motivation survey and arcade uploads.

This survey works well as an INSTRUCTIONAL TOOL with the entire class working together.

You can show the survey projected on the wall and have students raise their hands with their ideas and reasoning for which CT pattern each video represents.

Alternately, each student can see the video on their individual monitors and complete the survey on their own.

The team's experience is that this is a REALLY FUN ACTIVITY done as a group, because students will come up with different answers for CT patterns and have very solid rational to back it up!

Note: We have found that Internet Explorer will tend to work better with these videos than other browsers. However, feel free to check other browsers such as Safari or Firefox if you would prefer to use them instead (again, type "teacher test" in the initials box)

3. Instructions for Students Taking the Survey Individually
Tell students they are about to complete a survey where they will look at some videos. They will be asked to describe how the video relates to parts of a game or simulation they've recently designed.

There are three sections to this survey. The first deals with Frogger, the second Pacman, the third simulations. If students have not completed one of the games or simulations, when they are asked if they have designed that game or simulation they should just select "no" when they get to that question and move on.

At the very end of the survey they will complete a final page with some personal information that may be used for research purposes. Their responses to this survey will be used to improve game design and simulation units.