The STEM Game Design Project at the William E. Norris Elementary School taps into students’ interest and motivation around video games, and fuses that passion with elements of writing and science.
The collaborative project between two English Language Arts co-teachers and their science teacher colleague involves students learning about game design theory and then developing and publishing video games with a science theme via Gamestar Mechanic. Student video games are published into an authentic community of other young gamers from around the world, and students use iterative design practice to revise and improve projects.
This session will provide an overview of teacher planning and student work, showcasing the connections between game design theory and the writing process as well as engineering design and Connected Learning principles.