This CPATH project uses free open source libraries and tools for a student-centered,community-based video game development project called Mythic for the purpose of revitalizing interest in computing studies. The Mythic project is student centered in the sense that students define project goals, and it is community-based in the sense that students from different institutions, ranging from high school to community college to university, contribute to the development of a common project. The project promises to help revitalize computing education by engaging students in meaningful and enjoyable work activities that lead to greater mastery of computing concepts through the use of software development tools, the use of software libraries, and the use of computing concepts. Project investigators are also establishing internships with local game development companies to increase the relevance to students and assist faculty in aligning learning outcomes to meet the needs of industry.
The intellectual merit lies in the strong collaborative team with significant experience in game development and building real software in class settings. The project has an excellent conceptual foundation that could lead to new research findings in both video game development as well as in computing education.
The broader impacts involve the potential to attract a more diverse student population to computing fields. Students from the local community who go into the video game industry will serve as role models for younger students at the high school and college levels. Similarly, students going into computing jobs outside the video game industry will also demonstrate to younger students as well as their parents and teachers that focusing on video game development when young can result in the development of skills needed for rewarding careers later in life. Black and Hispanic students account for more than 50% of enrollments at the lead institution. Thus, the project helps to broaden the participation of these underrepresented groups in pursuing degrees in computing disciplines. The associated learning materials that are produced can serve as a resource for other institutions and as a foundation for collaborative research. This project activity should demonstrate to other departments and institutions the value of student-centered, community-based video game development projects to cultivate interest in and mastery of computational thinking in students from high school through university.
as a means to increase student interest and engagement in university computing studies. The projects were community-based in the sense that they spanned several courses taught by different professors and included students from more than one discipline and from more than one institution. Project participants included university students enrolled in computer science, computer systems, art, physics, and business majors. Approximately 80 students were involved in these projects, including students from California State University San Bernardino, Norco College, Riverside Community College, Martin Luther King Junior High School, Cajon High School, and Rim of the World High School. Over the 3-year award period, faculty participants significantly improved their abilities to manage community-based video game development projects and integrate them into the computing curriculum. The culminating project was a role playing game called Lacuna Reaver, which provides approximately 25 hours of story delivery, questing, puzzles and turn-based tactical combat challenges. The work was completed in the context of 2 computer science courses, several independent studies, and in meetings held through 2 summers and on Saturdays during the regular school year. Much of the work was done by students without support and without course credit, demonstrating the high level of student engagement achieved by the project. A total of 40 students contributed to the Lacuna Reaver project. The game is currently published through the following URL: http://cse.csusb.edu/lr/ The Lacuna Reaver project involves tens of thousands of lines of C# code. Such a code base naturally pushes students to deal with complexity and helps them develop habits of thought that enable effective and efficient software development, including an appreciation of object-oriented design, separation of concerns, logical thinking, code analysis, importance of testing, reliance on revision control systems, development of clear and complete specifications, and ability to work constructively in teams. Project investigators identify as a major challenge to the use of community-based video game development projects the large amount of time needed from faculty to manage student participation and ensure progress from inception to completion. Faculty also need to constrain project goals to remain realistic while granting students the freedom to design their own games. Project investigators witnessed an increase in the use of computational thinking among student participants, which they ascribe to the following factors. Video games are meaningful to students and thereby provide a natural means to engage students in the creative process of designing, implementing and testing software. The social context of cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional projects increases motivation and engagement, and leads students to develop practical communication and project management skills. As a side benefit, the games created by faculty and students in a community-based context have been useful in engaging prospective computing students in open house events, recruitment talks, and other meetings with students from middle schools and high schools.
