Games and Culture

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Register here to gain access to SAGE's 500+ Journals Online

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
1555412008317312v1
3/3-4/309    most recent
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hayes, E. R.
Right arrow Articles by Games, I. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
This version was published on July 1, 2008
Games and Culture, Vol. 3, No. 3-4, 309-332 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1555412008317312

Making Computer Games and Design Thinking

A Review of Current Software and Strategies

Elisabeth R. Hayes

Arizona State University

Ivan Alex Games

University of Wisconsin-Madison

This article provides an overview of computer software and instructional strategies intended to engage young people in making computer games, to achieve a variety of educational goals. It briefly describes the most popular of such programs and compares their key features, including the kinds of games that can be created with the software, the types of communities and resources that are associated with each program, claims made for learning outcomes resulting from use of the software, and the results of empirical research (if any) on the application and outcomes of the software in formal or informal educational settings. A key finding is that existing software and educational applications stress the goal of teaching users about computer programming and place little or no emphasis on teaching concepts related to game design. It concludes by discussing the potential value of explicit attention to "design thinking" as goal of game making in education.

Key Words: video games • learning • thinking • game design • software


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?