The Use of Rapid Digital Game Creation to Learn Computational Thinking

TL;DR

This paper explores using Rapid Digital Game Creation as an innovative teaching method to develop computational thinking skills, making programming more accessible and engaging for learners.

Contribution

It introduces RDGC as a pedagogical tool for teaching CT, demonstrating its effectiveness and mapping it to Java concepts for educational purposes.

Findings

RDGC supports key CT concepts effectively.

Mapping RDGC to Java enhances understanding of programming.

RDGC can attract more students to computing fields.

Abstract

Computational Thinking (CT) has been described as a universally applicable ability such as reading and writing. In this paper, we describe an innovative pedagogy using Rapid Digital Game Creation (RDGC) for learning CT skills. RDGC involves the rapid building of digital games with high-level software that requires little or no programming knowledge. We analyze how RDGC supports various CT concepts and how it may be mapped to equivalent Java concepts by building the same game using both RDGC and Java. We discuss the potential benefits of this approach for attracting computing majors, as a precursor to learning formal programming languages, for learning domain knowledge, and for bridging the digital divide. We present the implications of this work for teachers and researchers.