I still remember my first computer science (CS) class in high school, learning how to block code in MIT’s Scratch platform. All of the assignments were about making stories, animations, and games to share with my classmates. It inspired me to pursue more CS classes in high school, which continued to foster curiosity and excitement for the topic. I have found that, over time, educators move away from game-based learning due to the assumption that students grow out of play. The focus shifts from making the content digestible for students to the amount of content per class. CS education risks losing its appeal due to the amount of algorithmic thinking required. Instead of solely focusing on imparting an immense amount of content, higher education CS educators might enhance their classroom experience by engaging students in play.
“Workforce Ready”
Should an educator strive to make students model employees? CS education is rooted in economic and workplace usage [1], but casual students may feel ostracized if CS education does not evolve. Instead of educators designing pedagogy around the workforce, they should develop classes that focus on transforming CS skills into social or personal improvement [2]. Educators must make the effort to understand students not as consumers of education or products for companies, but as human beings searching for knowledge [3]. Many initiatives that aim to bring CS to everyone, i.e., standardized CS education in elementary schools, are designed to train students in skills that companies do not want to teach, like typing, syntax, and logic statements [1]. Most modern companies have a technological infrastructure that employees must use, so basic CS education has become a life skill like addition, vocabulary, etc. Issues arise when educators standardize CS content through an overreliance on memorization instead of comprehension, focusing on one language instead of general concepts, etc. CS can be taught to everyone, but it needs to be taught in a holistic way, taking into account that not only CS minded individuals are learning.
Making Learning Fun
In earlier grades, learning is fun. Field trips, interactive activities, crafts, and more are all part of an elementary school curriculum. As students age, lecture halls become the norm. Syntax and efficiency become the language of computer science—yet it could be so much more. The brain grows faster when people play, leading to quicker and more in-depth understanding [4]. Using resources like video games creates fast-paced, engaging activities that provide immediate feedback, demonstrate visual information, allow for variable skill levels, and encourage low-pressure risk-taking [5]. Games can be especially efficient for CS education, and as society already associates video games with CS, the threshold for acceptance is lower. As long as games engage students without erroneous and distracting content, they allow students freedom and autonomy in their learning, which is frequently taken away from them.
Building a culture of play is fundamental. Adults are uncomfortable and often confused when asked to engage in play, especially in academic or professional settings; they want to be seen as serious, not silly [3], [4]. In order for this paradigm to change, college professors must first teach students that play is okay. Students need to feel safe actively participating in their education, and play can develop a positive feedback loop by creating a more comfortable learning environment. People often feel vulnerable and authentic during play, using play to build relationships from childhood on. Professors could use humor during lectures, set up roleplay or storytelling scenarios for students to experience content for themselves, etc. Students can fulfill their desire for play while still feeling challenged by their coursework. Feeling suffocated by exams and homework is not the only way to make students take their education seriously [3].
Equity
Centering education around play rather than work creates the sense of comfort required for challenging conversations that classes often need to have [3], like: “Who belongs in CS?”, “What are the consequences of many CS jobs?”, and “How do we create diversity and equity in CS spaces?” Bringing underrepresented groups into CS gives them more agency in both academic and economic settings [1]. These groups need to be considered when pedagogy is designed. Underrepresented students will often not connect with current CS pedagogy; although it accurately represents the algorithmic and syntactic facts, underrepresented students may find the culture to be alienating [6]. Instead, if aspirational principles are added, such as equal opportunities and digital inclusion, they will find themselves more welcome and more likely to continue with CS [7].
Game-based learning also minimizes disparities in learning. In Papastergiou’s study of how games affect learning, no major statistical difference was found between male and female students when using the game as a teaching aid. While the female students did report lower scores, they started with lower scores on the pretest and had less familiarity with the topics before the game. Thus, though their posttest results were slightly lower than those of the male students, the difference from onset to final result was comparable in both males and females [8]. Games can induce similar growth and encourage all students to learn in a way that brings them joy.
Closing
Joy and care empower learning. We need to encourage educators and students alike to find exciting ways to learn. If students feel seen, they will open up to their teachers and listen. They will feel more willing to ask questions, which encourages more participation and discussion between students [3]. Focusing education on play builds the community that students are looking for, especially in stressful majors like CS. The vulnerability that comes with play allows students to feel that it’s okay to struggle, as play reduces the stress and feeling of importance that some tasks can inherently contain. Students deserve learning that brings them joy and sees them as people. Churning out corporate workers is not what education should strive for. Education should be learning for interest and showing students the joy of the subject. Even if students require certain information, introducing that information in a playful manner can help their retention and interest when learning. Corporations can put together training so that their employees have the skills that they want. Playful learning is what higher education should strive for.
Works Cited
[1] S. Vogel, R. Santo, and D. Ching, “Visions of Computer Science Education,” Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, Mar. 2017, doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017755.
[2] A. J. Ko et al., “It is time for more critical CS education,” Communications of the ACM, vol. 63, no. 11, pp. 31–33, Oct. 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/3424000.
[3] L. Forbes, “The Process of Playful Learning in Higher Education: A Phenomenological Study,” Journal of Teaching and Learning, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 57–73, May 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v15i1.6515.
[4] L. H. Koops and C. C. Taggart, “Learning Through Play: Extending an Early Childhood Music Education Approach to Undergraduate and Graduate Music Education,” Journal of Music Teacher Education, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 55–66, Jun. 2010, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1057083710373578.
[5] J. Long, “Just For Fun: Using Programming Games in Software Programming Training and Education,” Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, vol. 6, no. 1, pp 279-290, Jan. 2007, https://www.learntechlib.org/p/111422/.
[6] W. Huang and C.-K. Looi, “A Critical Review of Literature on ‘unplugged’ Pedagogies in K-12 Computer Science and Computational Thinking Education,” Computer Science Education, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 1–29, Jul. 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/08993408.2020.1789411.
[7] T. Brinda, H. Puhlmann, and C. Schulte, “Bridging ICT and CS,” ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 288–292, Aug. 2009, doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/1595496.1562965.
[8] M. Papastergiou, “Digital Game-Based Learning in high school Computer Science education: Impact on educational effectiveness and student motivation,” Computers & Education, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 1–12, Jan. 2009, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2008.06.004.
The featured image was designed by macrovector / Freepik.
