Designing Animations and Games - A Creative Introduction to Programming
About flying Elephants, Dogs,
Cats and Ideas!
Educational Objectives
A
Creative Introduction to Programming with Scratch
Introduction
to the programming environment
Loops,
Making of Animations/ Films
Algorithms
and reacting to events: Decisions
Interactivity: Reacting to user-input
Possible
continuation of the lessons:
Introduction
How should programming be introduced? This question is raised in the
context of software development as a central issue of computer science classes
in schools over and over again. But not only schools, also universities
struggle in preparing students a smooth way to get into the field of computer
science. Often these introduction courses and topics are found to the cause for
computer science being seen as hard, mechanistic or even uninteresting or
discouraging (cp. Bergin, 2005, Curzon, 1998, Mamone, 1992, Rich et al., 2004,
Tharp, 1981, Feldgen, 2003 and others).
But this doesn’t necessarily need to be that way: The chance to develop
software using a programming language can nicely demonstrate that computer
systems can be shaped.
For the realization of this lesson example that is motivating and
encouraging for the students and at the same time allows to learn about
computer science close to the subject, the “criteria for creative computer
science lessons” where regarded and applied (cp. Romeike 2007b).
Didactical Framework
Criteria for creative computer science lessons
Reflecting the big potential of computer science lessons to foster
creativity (cp. Romeike 2007a), which in return can have positive effects on
students’ motivation and task achievement, criteria have been developed that
should be regarded for creative computer science lessons (Romeike 2007b). They
reflect and combine general pedagogical principles that are essential and
beneficial for creative practices in CS education. In addition they consider typical tasks and
principles that are common in CS:
Requirements for the subject:
Relevance - Problem
management or creation of a product
Requirements for tasks:
- Subjective
novelty
- Openness in
possible results, approaches and solution methods
- Application
of concept knowledge
- Inspiration
Student oriented requirements:
Allowing of
- Identification with the subject
- Originality
Requirements for the teaching environment:
- Experimenting
- Freedom in
time
- Climate of
diversity
- Teachers role
– teacher as a coach
More didactical principles:
Discovery learning, experimental learning, Learning by Design,
Constructionism (cp. Papert 1980)
Suggestions for the lessons:
- Have the
students to write down new concepts and building blocks in their notebook
- Regularly
presentation of students results after each project
- Online-Upload
of all programs to Scratch-Homepage
Scratch
The visual programming (mini) language Scratch was originally designed
for young students to develop 21st century skills. It allows creating
animations, games and other programs by “clicking together” programming
constructs represented as building blocks. Nevertheless, due to its intuitive
appearance and usability it is used in computer club houses, high schools and
even in introductory programming college courses. We chose Scratch because it
emphasizes practical learning of fundamental CS concepts and at the same time
supports the idea of fostering creativity in CS classes. Mini languages are said
to provide an insight into programming and teach algorithmic thinking for
general computer science in an intuitive, simple but powerful way. Thus Scratch
meets the needs for the intended purpose.
About this lesson example
Published lesson teaching units can have different goals:
- They are
intended to give teachers the theoretical background and knowledge for a
special topic
- A special
methodical way is to be pointed out to demonstrate how a topic can be
taught
- A (new) tool
for computer science lessons is to be presented
- Experiences
are described.
This lesson examples aims for the last three points: About programming
plenty of publications have been published and the reader is probably more then
familiar with the concepts of programming.
I would like to show a way how applying the criteria for creative
computer science lessons the students are introduced to programming in an
exploratory and discovery way with lots of joy about the subject – Computer
Science is fun! This is how this lesson example was perceived by the students
when it was approved and evaluated in an 11th class of a German
high-school (with about 16 year old students).
Educational Objectives,:
o
basic understanding of programming
o
Algorithms:
- characteristics
(finiteness, clarity, feasibility, general validity)
- What can be
solved algorithmically?
o
Basic concepts of programming
- Sequence
- Loops
- Decisions
- Variables
(local/global)
o
Input and output of data
o
Arithmetic operations and comparison operators
o
Representation of algorithms as Scratch blocks
o
Object, message, attributes, methods
o
Reading and analyzing programs
o
Modifying and extending of programs
o
Designing, implementing and testing of programs
o
Idea generation and problem management
Target group:
The primary target of the developers of Scratch was basically aiming for
children. Nevertheless, Scratch due to its intuitive approach is used in
high-school and even in introductory programming courses in colleges. Not only
because of this, also because of the openness of the tasks and time this
teaching example can be used as well in secondary I as well as secondary II. Last but not least a lesson example can only
provide ideas which need to be adapted to the particular learning group and
situation.
A Creative Introduction to Programming with Scratch
In the following first an outline of every lesson will be presented.
Afterward the experiences are described and student results presented.
Introduction to the programming environment, fundamental functions and
the Scratch Help-Files
1.
Doing the introduction-tutorial together with the
students: 1.
Presenting an example for an animation
film 2.
Presenting students’ films, students explain used
blocks and strategies |
Remaining
time for beginning this new lecture: 1 hour (45 minutes). The students just
finished a lecture about databases and wrote an examination about it.
The
mood of the class gets noticeable better as we are now getting to the “core” of
computer science: Starting to develop programs ourselves.
With
the step-by-step introduction the students got familiar with the fundamentals
of Scratch. Necessary functions and the help system were explored, explained
and discussed and sprites were illustrated with their attributes in a class
diagram.
The
first programming concept “sequence” was introduced and a short animation film
shown.
Assignment
for the class: Design a short animation film. After 20 minutes every student or
group of students managed to finish their first short film.
I demonstrated how the movie
can be put online, which some students did right away with their lesson results
A couple of days later I
astonished notice students of another (advanced!) CS class of the school
playing with a Scratch game online. One of my students had quickly designed a game in Scratch and
showed it around! As a result he was now asked by the other teachers to explain
Scratch and his game in the other course – other courses are switching to
Scratch!
Loops, Making of Animations/ Films
1.
Objects 2.
Sequences with blocks, loops 3.
Storyboard 4.
Making an animation film 5.
Upload of the films to the Scratch-Website 6.
Algorithms and their characteristics
On the blackboard: Objects (Sprites) have attributes and methods (presentation of the
class diagram on the blackboard). Common attributes are: x, y, direction, actualCostume, size in percent
(possibly rotation type what is to be changed in the IDE) Methods are put made in the script area by putting together blocks. The arrangement of several blocks after another is called a sequence. Sometimes a block or a sequence shall be executed several times:
Therefore loops can be used (Demonstration of loops). Assignment of the day: Design and implement a longer animated film. As an example the film ”Polarbear School“ is
shown to the students. Together with the students the following findings are discussed:
For the design of a movie it is helpful to write the actions of the
actors (sprites) in a storyboard: A
storyboard is a visual representation of the content and the proceedings of a
movie. It serves as a draft for the implementation of a movie. All actions
are displayed in a timeline. Together now the storyboard for the example film is gathered at the
blackboard. Afterwards the students get the following assignment: Design and realize an
animation film to a topic of your choice. First think about which
sprites shall be used in the film and which action shall take place. Once you are done use the
“share” button to put your movie online. Use your own ideas for the
film, e.g. a scence of your favourite movie, your school day or a visit in
the zoo. But you also can use other topics. In the last 20 minutes the term algorithm and its characteristics are
introduced. The students shall investigate if their animated film is an
algorithm or not. |
After presenting their
results from last week the students now really want to continue working with
Scratch. But before we repeated fundamental concepts (a few students were
absent before): Sprites as objects with their attributes and the programming
concept sequence. Then the new concept loop (which already has been used by a
few students) is introduced.
Now the task is to create an
animated movie. As a foundation for doing so storyboards were introduced.
Storyboards are an outline of the film where sprites and their actions are
represented on a timeline. It was motivating to the students to show an example
project (Polarbear School) which demonstrated different possibilities to use
sprites and backgrounds.
Finally we repeated how the
students can register to the Scratch website and upload projects. Now the
students really wanted to get started.
Because the students needed
more time for experimentation and getting to know the programming environment
this lesson took 3 hours (3x 45 min). Students who did not manage to finish
their movie wanted to finish it at home. In the following week the results
would be presented.
Within the last 30 minutes
the topic “algorithms” should have been brought up. This did not happen due to
the aforementioned reason. The students instead got the assignment for homework
to read a working sheet about what are algorithms. Also they were asked to
evaluate their project and decide if it is an algorithm.
Algorithms and reacting to events: Decisions
1.
Presentation of the animation films of the students
by using the uploaded versions at the Scratch-Website 2.
Discussing characteristics of algorithms and
evaluating these at (students) animation film 3.
Introduction of the block “if” 4.
Assignment: Include more balls or other flying
objects that also bounce from each other. |
Interactivity: Reacting to user-input
Mini-Project: Animate your name in a way that the letters react to the
mouse pointer. Question: Who has discovered ways yet for how it is possible to
interact with a Scratch program? Which ways exist for input and output of
data? à Presentation of
findings by several students (and can be expected that several students
already tried out various blocks and can well answer to the questions) Input:
Output:
Now several examples of
animated names are presented. The students get the following assignment: Animate your name(s) in a way that the letters react to a)
the keypress of a letter and b)
mouse clicks Homework: Find five examples for actions in everyday life that can be
solved with an algorithm (e.g. adding 2 numbers). Find also five examples
that can not be described by an algorithm (e.g. writing of a job application
letter). |
Some students by now have
installed Scratch at their home computers.
While the students at the
beginning were still hesitating to present their animation films, soon they
started to enjoy showing what they have done. Even more film should have been
shown then there was time for.
The creation of the jumping
balls worked well – all students did this task well. Who was faster implemented
three or more balls. In parallel the projects were uploaded to the Scratch
Website.
The students did well in
gathering the possibilities of interactions offered by Scratch. The blocks then
were presented and described by the students.
The presentation of the name
animations as well led to interesting ideas and inspirations to all. Even if
most of the students did well in animating their name, some of the animations
did not use the interactive possibilities – again these were just films. With
those students again was talked about how they can make objects react to
events.
For the animation of the
balls 20-30 minutes were sufficient. Animating the names (45 min) could have
been a bit longer. But the tight schedule had also had an advantage: The
students still were very interested in the new ideas and concepts and
participated very well in the mini-projects. Furthermore they really started to
get creative; in the animations and in the algorithms.
|
The content of the following lesson are handed to the students as work
sheets. They have now almost 3 hours (3 x 45min) to explore, understand and
implement the presented concepts with the demonstrated examples and own
programs. |
Methods and
Broadcasts
Download: Work sheet | Example
Variables
Download: Work sheet | Example
This time I started the
lesson with an oral examination about algorithms, control structures and the
homework. Now the class really wanted to continue working with Scratch. Before
doing so the results of last week were presented by the students. After each
program the programmer received a short applause. Good ideas have been
presented and rewarded. Finally we talked about the plans for the day and the
following week: 2 work sheets with new concepts, explanations and tasks as well
as a game project. With receiving the hand outs the students started right
away.
Using broadcasts was not
problematic at all. If someone had questions generally the students were
helping each other themselves or used the help system. A few students even have
used variables and broadcasts in their projects before. The dance groups were
created in various ways. Partly the dance group was implemented in an
interactive way, so that through a mouse click broadcasts were sent triggering
actions. Partly the methods were triggered from the “trainer”. This way there
are no interactions possible. With these students I talked about the program
and how they could make interactions possible (but what they did not have to
do). But this made sure that they understood the principle of algorithms (not
always the same actions).
Also applying variables was
not problematic at all. Most of the students started at the end of the third
lesson today already with their own game project.
When the lesson was over I
noticed another effect of engaging the students in independent creative project
work in the lesson: When I finished the last of the three lesson hours and it
was ringing for the break the students did not run – as often – quickly
outside. Just as if nothing had happened they stayed and finished realizing the
ideas they were working on. Then slowly one by one was leaving the room. The
interest seems to be raised and to be consistent.
Project:
Until here fundamental concepts of programming were taught. Now the
students shall apply their knowledge in a small project: Assignment: Create a game in Scratch by making use of all learned concepts
(various objects, broadcasts, loops, decisions, variables, ...). For inspiration think about games like Mario Brothers, Pong, Chicken
Shoot, car racing, Memory etc. |
The last three lessons again
were started with the presentation of last week’s results by the students.
After they exchanged ideas and strategies the students now really wanted to
continue working at their projects. Unfortunately only a small project was possible
– as only 1.5 hours were left. The last hour was reserved for a test about
algorithms and programming. But every student or student group managed to
finish a small game.
The 45-minute examination
consisted of a theoretical and a practical part. The practical part had a
problem solving and a free creative task. All have been solved well or very well by the students. So far I
never have received so good results when teaching an introduction to
programming.
Possible
continuation of the lessons:
More project ideas and topics: –
interactive music –
painting/drawing with Scratch (e.g. turtle graphics) –
simulations |
References
Bergin, S.,
Reilly, R. (2005) The Influence of Motivation and Comfort-Level on Learning to
Program. In Proceedings of the PPIG 17. J. G. In P. Romero, E. Acosta Chaparro
& S. Bryant. University of Sussex, Brighton UK. 293-304.
Curzon, P., Rix,
J. (1998) Why do Students take Programming Modules? In Proceedings of the 6th
an-nual conference on the teaching and computing and the 3rd annual conference
on integratingtechnology into CSE: Changing the delivery of Computer Science
Education. ITICSE ’98. Dublin, Ireland. 59-63.
Feldgen, M., Clua,
O. (2003) New motivations are required for freshman introductory programming.
In Proceedings of the 33rd ASSE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference. Boulder. T3C-T24.
Kohl, L., Romeike, R (2006) Aktueller Stand der
Objektorientierung bei
Informatiklehrerinnen und -lehrern, HDI 2006-2. GI-Fachtagung
"Hochschuldidaktik der Informatik", in: Hochschuldidaktik der
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Mamone, S. (1992)
Empirical Study of Motivation in an Entry Level Programming Course. ACM SIGPLAN
Notices, 27, 54-60.
Papert, S. (1980):
Mindstorms : children, computers, and powerful ideas, Basic Books, New York.
Rich, L., Perry,
H. and Guzdial, M. (2004). A CS1 course designed to address interests of women.
In Proceedings of the 35th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science
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Tharp,
A. L. (1981) Getting more oomph from programming exercises. SIGCSE Bull., 13,
91-95.