Games with a Purpose

Students at the Wake NC State University STEM Early College High School recently hosted a Computer Science Principles Gallery Walk to showcase their “Games with a Purpose.” Parents, Business Advisory Board members, school administration, NCSU computer science faculty and graduate students as well as NC New Schools were invited to view the students’ final programming products. Games with a purpose are games that are developed for a function other than entertainment, such as teaching addition or about forces or anatomy.

After a semester of learning computing concepts and skills in the pre-AP Computer Science Principles course, students were given the task of creating games to educate, academic or otherwise. Students worked on the project in teams of four for several weeks. The teams chose a target audience for their games with a purpose and then brainstormed, researched and assigned roles to more efficiently work on their project. Students learned about the design process for computer game development as well as how to leverage individual talents within the team. Students had quality days to test their games and receive feedback from their peers. After creating a team game, students individually created games for the same target audience that would complement the group game.

Take a look at the images of the students’ work above for just a few examples of the wonderful accomplishments.

Plans for next year’s event are already in the works. For more information about the CS Principles initiative and course, visit www.csprinciples.org.

Leslie Keller is a teacher at Wake NC State University STEM Early College High School, Raleigh, NC.