Game Genre and Computational Literacy: Situating Design and Programming Practice With Kodu

• In Event: Research on Digital Media, Games, and Simulations in Teacher Education

Abstract

Objectives:
In this paper we investigate an after-school program that uses the Kodu Game Lab software to teach young people ages ten to thirteen about computational literacy and game design. We argue that young people’s development of computational literacies is tied to their understanding of both game genre and the design grammar of creation tools.

Theoretical framework
Game creation tools like Kodu and Scratch use high-level programming languages that educators employ to teach youth computational literacy (sometimes called computational thinking) - thinking algorithmically about complex problems (Disessa, 2000). These tools, however, have their own grammar of design (e.g. Kress & van Leeuwen, 1996) that presents users with unique creative possibilities. Moreover, game genres produce distinct activity spaces that subsequently shape computational literacy development (e.g. Schon, 1983).

Methods
This study employs multimodal semiotic analysis (Lemke, 2012) to examine the genre-linked design grammar of participants’ game artifacts, and utilizes ethnographic Discourse analysis (Gee & Green, 1998) to examine changes in participants’ participation over nine-weeks time.

Data sources
For purposes of length we focus on two pseudonymous participants’ cases: Enrique, age 13; and Alan, age 11. Over four weeks, the participants learned to make a racing game like “Shy Guy’s Beach” level in Mario Kart Wii (see Figure 1), which both had played extensively.

Data analyzed is drawn from Kodu’s game creation files that researchers archived each week, audiovideo recordings of participants’ activity, and researcher field notes.
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Results
The two participants’ understandings of the relationship between game creation tool and game genre influenced their development of computational literacy. Enrique’s designs focused on the primary elements of the racing game genre – object collection, scoring and finish locations. Alan, in contrast, attended to shooting and combat, secondary elements of the racing game genre.
The participants’ final products showed differences in genre and tool competencies. Enrique used event-driven programming to craft a racing level with multiple opponents, objection collection and competitive scoring (see Figures 2, 3 & 4).
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Alan, in contrast, struggled to craft a level that he said would combine elements of third-person shooter and racing game genres, but in the end could fully implement neither (see Figures 5, 6 & 7).
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Enrique’s work exhibits a beginning understanding of programming using events and conditionals. Alan’s product seems to indicate that he struggles with said concepts.

Scholarly significance of the study
Game creation software is often treated as a transparent instructional medium. However, this investigation suggests that the relationship between game genre, tools and creative activity shapes how participants learn to think about algorithmic and computational problems – the genre form and creative material for the cognitive activity structure how knowledge is built. What then are the implications for computational literacy learning environments that employ game creation tools?

Authors

• Benjamin M Devane, The University of Iowa

• Cody Steward, University of Florida

• Kelly Tran, Arizona State University - Tempe