SGER: Storytelling Alice and Game Design in Middle School

这项SGER提案的目标是收集初步数据，以确定中学生是否可以使用“讲故事的爱丽丝”编程环境来创建成对的游戏，以及它是否显示出一些培养学生熟练使用信息技术（it）的潜力。Alice是一个面向对象的编程系统，它似乎具有很大的潜力，可以吸引中学生参与编程，并使他们能够熟练地使用IT。与其他游戏设计软件相比，它具有降低儿童学习障碍的功能，引入编程概念和功能，并且具有旨在吸引在it领域代表性不足的儿童（例如女孩）的图像和角色。尽管这一系统具有直观的吸引力，并且在教育工作者中很受欢迎，但关于如何将其用于游戏编程或相关社交因素的研究却很少。在这项探索性研究中，40名来自拉丁裔地区的中学生将使用“讲故事的爱丽丝”制作成对的游戏。教学方法将建立在游戏开发课程的基础上，该课程已经在中学女生中开发并测试过，使用了另外两种软件系统。这项研究将包括男孩。学生数据将包括采访、案例研究观察、表现评估和学生游戏分析。

The goal of this SGER proposal is to collect preliminary data on whether the Storytelling Alice programming environment can be used by middle school students to create games in pairs, and whether it shows some potential for building fluency with information technology (IT). Storytelling Alice is an object-oriented programming system that appears to have great potential for engaging middle school children in programming, and for building IT fluency. In contrast to other game design software, it has features that lower the barriers for children to learn it, introduces programming concepts and capabilities, and hasgraphics and characters that are designed to appeal to children who are underrepresented in IT (e.g., girls) . Despite the intuitive appeal of this system, and its popularity among educators, there has been little researchon how it can be used to program games, or the social factors involved. For this exploratory study, 40 middle school students in a predominantly Latino/a school district will create games in pairs, using Storytelling Alice. The teaching approach will build on the game development curriculum that has been developed and tested among middle school girls, using two other software systems. The study will include boys. Student data will include interviews, case study observations, performance assessments, and analysis of students' games.