Building Systems from Scratch: an Exploratory Study of Students Learning About Climate Change

Puttick, Gillian; Tucker‐Raymond, Eli

doi:10.1007/s10956-017-9725-x

Cited by 38 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Learning science through a game design has been shown to be effective (Puttick & Tucker-Raymond, 2018). Students were supposed to be learning about climate change and game design.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Game creation as an introduction to programming and computational thinking has proved to be highly engaging at middle and high school levels (e.g., Aydin, 2005;Repenning, Webb, & Ioannidou, 2010), facilitating creative thinking, social cooperation, and broader participation (Denner, Werner, & Ortiz, 2011;Resnick, Maloney, Monroy-Hernandez, & Kafai, 2009). Game design has also been shown to support student learning in various disciplines, for instance, climate science (Puttick, Strawhacker, Bernstein, & Sylvan, 2014;Puttick & Tucker-Raymond, 2018), mathematics (Tucker-Raymond et al, 2016), biology (Baytak & Land, 2011;Khalili, Sheridan, Williams, Clark, & Stegman, 2011), natural sciences (Hwang, Yang, & Wang, 2013), and chemistry (Siko, Barbour, & Toker, 2011).…”

Section: Integrating Game Design In Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, efforts to include computer science and computational thinking in STEM classrooms have been under increasing focus since computational practices were integrated into the Next-Generation Science Standards (NGSS) (NGSS Lead States, 2013). These efforts include varied approaches, for example, playing serious games (e.g., Boyle et al, 2016), investigating models and simulations (e.g., Weintrop et al, 2016), developing applications (e.g., Tissenbaum, Sheldon, Soep, Lee, and Lao, 2017), and game design (e.g., Puttick & Tucker-Raymond, 2018). Designbased approaches to integration, such as creating games, encourage participatory forms of engagement in which students are positioned as experts in both content (e.g., climate systems) and delivery (e.g., how to include the player as an actor in the system) (Puttick & Tucker-Raymond, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These efforts include varied approaches, for example, playing serious games (e.g., Boyle et al, 2016), investigating models and simulations (e.g., Weintrop et al, 2016), developing applications (e.g., Tissenbaum, Sheldon, Soep, Lee, and Lao, 2017), and game design (e.g., Puttick & Tucker-Raymond, 2018). Designbased approaches to integration, such as creating games, encourage participatory forms of engagement in which students are positioned as experts in both content (e.g., climate systems) and delivery (e.g., how to include the player as an actor in the system) (Puttick & Tucker-Raymond, 2018). This paper argues that if educators are to take computational design as integral to scientific study seriously, then critique, as a participatory design approach that leverages distributed expertise among students, must become an integral practice in STEM classrooms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“I Broke Your Game!”: critique among middle schoolers designing computer games about climate change

et al. 2019

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Background: There have been increasing calls for integrating computational thinking and computing into school science, mathematics, and engineering classrooms. The learning goals of the curriculum in this study included learning about both computational thinking and climate science. Including computer science in science classrooms also means a shift in the focus on design and creation of artifacts and attendant practices. One such design practice, widespread in the design and arts fields, is critique. This paper explores the role of critique in two urban, heterogenous 8th grade science classrooms in which students engaged in creating computer games on the topic of climate systems and climate change. It explores and compares how practices of critique resulted from curricular decisions to (i) scaffold intentional critique sessions for student game designers and (ii) allow for spontaneous feedback as students interacted with each other and their games during the process of game creation. Results: Although we designed formal opportunities for critique, the participatory dimension of the project meant that students were free to critique each other's games at any time during the building process and did so voluntarily. Data indicate that students focused much more on the game play dimension of the design than the science, particularly in those critique sessions that were student-initiated. Despite the de-emphasis on science in spontaneous critiques, students still focused on several dimensions of computational thinking, considering user experience, troubleshooting, modeling, and elegance of solutions. Conclusions: Students making games about science topics should have opportunities for both formal and spontaneous critiques. Spontaneous critiques allow for students to be authorities of knowledge and to determine what is acceptable and what is not. However, formal, teacher-designed critiques may be necessary for students to focus on science as part of the critique. Furthermore, one of the benefits to critiquing others was that students were able to see what others had done, how they had set up their games, the content they included, and how they had programmed certain features. Lastly, critiques can help facilitate iteration as students work to improve their games.

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“…Learning science through a game design has been shown to be effective (Puttick & Tucker-Raymond, 2018). Students were supposed to be learning about climate change and game design.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Integrating Game Design In Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

“I Broke Your Game!”: critique among middle schoolers designing computer games about climate change

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These simplistic models can be described as "cognitive illusions" which hinder the correct understanding of such dynamics. The limitations to understanding complex systems hinder in turn our capability to propose effective policy measures for the sustainability crisis [13,[15][16][17][18]. In fact, previous research has shown that not only pupils of all ages, but also their teachers hold many misconceptions and misunderstandings concerning these issues [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Sustainability Crossroads: A Participatory Simulation Game to Educate in the Energy and Sustainability Challenges of the 21st Century

2019

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There is a general need to facilitate citizens’ understanding of the global sustainability problem with the dual purpose of raising their awareness of the seriousness of the problem and helping them get closer to understanding the complexity of the solutions. Here, the design and application of the participatory simulation game Global Sustainability Crossroads is described, based on a global state-of-the-art energy–economy–environment model, which creates a virtual scenario where the participants are confronted with the design of climate mitigation strategies as well as the social, economic, and environmental consequences of decisions. The novelty of the game rests on the global scope and the representation of the drivers of anthropogenic emissions within the MEDEAS-World model, combined with a participatory simulation group dynamic flexible enough to be adapted to a diversity of contexts and participants. The performance of 13 game workshops with ~420 players has shown it has a significant pedagogical potential: the game is able to generate discussions on crucial topics which are usually outside the public realm such as the relationship between economic growth and sustainability, the role of technology, how human desires are limited by biophysical constraints or the possibility of climate tipping points.

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Computational thinking for using models of water flow in environmental systems: Intertwining three dimensions in a learning progression

et al. 2022

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Nearly a decade ago, the Framework for K‐12 Science Education argued for the need to intertwine science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts in performance expectations. However, there are few empirical examples for how intertwining three dimensions facilitates learning. In this study, we used a learning progressions approach to examine how student engagement in computational thinking (science and engineering practice) intertwines with learning about the flow of water through environmental systems (disciplinary core ideas) and understanding of systems and system models (crosscutting concept). We developed three secondary‐level curriculum units situated in current groundwater contamination and urban flooding contexts. Units included specially designed NetLogo computational models. Post‐assessments measured student performances in computational thinking processes and understanding of hydrologic systems. Using item response theory in our analysis, we identified distinct levels of performance on a learning progression. At the lower end, literal model users interacted with models and manipulated model interfaces to achieve a specified goal. In the middle, Model Technicians used computational models to solve real‐world problems. At the upper end, principle‐based model users used computational thinking processes and principles related to systems modeling and hydrology to explain how the models worked to predict water flow. Differences between performances of literal model users, model technicians, and principle‐based model users reflected shifts in how students made sense of the systems and system models crosscutting concept. These shifts in performances aligned with progress in computational thinking practices and finally with use of hydrology disciplinary core ideas. These findings contribute to understanding of how science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts intertwine during learning; how computational thinking practices develop; and how computational thinking about system models facilitates learning for environmental science literacy.

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Building Systems from Scratch: an Exploratory Study of Students Learning About Climate Change

Cited by 38 publications

References 44 publications

“I Broke Your Game!”: critique among middle schoolers designing computer games about climate change

“I Broke Your Game!”: critique among middle schoolers designing computer games about climate change

Global Sustainability Crossroads: A Participatory Simulation Game to Educate in the Energy and Sustainability Challenges of the 21st Century

Computational thinking for using models of water flow in environmental systems: Intertwining three dimensions in a learning progression

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