Informing the Design of a Game-Based Learning Environment for Computer Science: A Pilot Study on Engagement and Collaborative Dialogue.
Fernando J. Rodríguez, Natalie D. Kerby, Kristy Elizabeth Boyer · AIED Workshops · 2013
Game-based learning environments hold great promise for supporting computer science learning. The ENGAGE project is building a game-based learning environment for middle school computational thinking and computer science principles, situated within mathematics and science curricula. This paper reports on a pilot study of the ENGAGE curriculum and gameplay elements, in which pairs of middle school students collaborated to solve gamebased computer science problems. Their collaborative behaviors and dialogue were recorded with video cameras. The analysis reported here focuses on nonverbal indicators of disengagement during the collaborative problem solving, and explores the dialogue moves used by a more engaged learner to repair a partner’s disengagement. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings for designing a game-based learning environment that supports collaboration for computer science.