Gaming for Computer Science Instruction[part 2] Andrew Phelps Director, Game Design & Development College of Computing & Information Sciences Rochester Institute of Technology

Problems with an objects-first approach (CC2001): Problems with materials Lack of experience Object-oriented thinking not natural for the introductory course Libraries & GUI’s overwhelm the student May not be reinforced in upper level courses Programming Education Hurdles

Students don’t have the conceptual framework to understand object-oriented programmingP – toy problems without reference to current understanding Too hard to go to applications made up of objects and relationships from individual classes Need to teach control structures, etc along with object-oriented programming techniques All of this leads to a decline in student enrollment and self-efficacy in computing as a profession!

Perceived Problem Gulf of Expectation: Today’s student is motivated by games, modding, music-lists and collaborative computing. In contrast, today’s programming classroom is (still) isolationist, focused on syntax rather than intellectual meat, and revolves around toy problems that can often be solved with a calculator, which sidesteps real learning.

Perceived Problem Divisional Groups: Upper Division Groups: Have learned the introductory material and have “suffered through” to get to the “good stuff” (i.e. the game engine courses) Lower Division Groups: Are just arriving on campus eager to change the world, but don’t know how to get started. Zero Meaningful Interaction

Strategies for Successful Objects First Experiences ● Using gaming ideas as a basis for teaching. ● Teaching design before coding syntax ● Immediate feedback for actions ● Teaching object-oriented concepts early ● Showing the relationships between classes ● Carrying object-oriented concepts into later courses ● No “toy problems” – tie programming to real-world problem solving

Approach Create a virtual environment that allows students to realize game- world-like achievement / artifacts, and allows for socialization across the capability gap.

Background Logo (now MIT [26] Karel the Robot [27] PigWorl d [31] CMU [28][29][30] NYU [32] SecondLife [secondlife.com] NGP Moose Crossing We wanted something that felt more game- world like in terms of graphics, interactions, and social constructs, but that also preserved the compilation / authorship process common to first-year computing curricula. SAGE[UNT] DXFramework [U of M]

Introducing M.U.P.P.E.T.S.: The Multi-User Programming Pedagogy for Enhancing Traditional Study: Will not dictate curriculum (although objects first is best ) Will not dictate collaboration level (although more is better)

What is it? C# & Java IDE User Created Objects Shared 3D Environment Collaborative virtual environment Integrated IDE Ability to compile, instantiate, debug and recompile from inside the environment (or VS2005) Ability for students to share objects and interact.

Impact as a Teaching Aid ● Show class relationships ● Composition to create new objects from other objects ● Association to show a “knows of” relationship between objects ● Ability to display a UML diagram showing relationships visually. A trooper avatar exploring his own class diagram

Collaborative & Constructivist Learning Classroom exercises based on constructivist principles, using M.U.P.P.E.T.S. as a scaffold as knowledge is gained. 1.There is no sense of universal truth. Instead, the learner constructs knowledge, and therefore a concept of truth, through interactions with the real world combined with past experiences. 2.The formation of new knowledge must be built upon knowledge already constructed by the learner. 3.Learning is framed through social interaction with others including peers and experts. 4.Meaningful learning can only occur when the learner is engaged in complex, authentic tasks

Collaborative & Constructivist Learning “the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning” (with an emphasis on interdependence) Collaborative projects are encouraged to break the cultural mode.

Anecdotal Success ● They think they learned more (not clear that they actually did) ● Closer to their goals and expectations? ● More relevant to their peers? Table 1: Mean Ranks for Perceived Amount Learned by Assignment Type Work previously presented by A. Phelps, C Egert, K Bierre and P Ventura at SIGCSE 2006

Breaking Down Barriers ● TankBrain ● Tag ● Gomoku ● OMGZ, an Art1sT in teh comp l4b!!!11!!one Gomoku by D. Parks and E. Huyer, Tank Brian by Prof. K. Bierre’s 219 Class, Robot by Michael P. Clark. All rights reserved, Rochester Institute of Technology

A Quick Tour of M.U.P.P.E.T.S. Andrew Phelps Director, Game Design & Development Rochester Institute of Technology

Acknowledgements ● RIT Provost’s Learning Initiatives Grants ● RIT Information Technology Department ● RIT Entertainment Technology Lab ● Microsoft Research (John Nordlinger and others)

Contact Information Andrew M. Phelps Director, Game Design & Development Associate Professor Interactive Media Group Department of Information Technology College of Computing & Info. Sciences Rochester Institute of Technology andysgi.rit.edu MUPPETS.RIT.EDU SlipField game by RIT Information Technology students ©