Wemightthinkthatteachingcodingissomethingboringand

complicated.Butwhenyoubaseyourexercisesongamesthen
yourstudentsgetastonished!

Introducinganewsubjectcanbethreateningforsomepeople.
ThingsgetworseforthosestudentsnotpronetoSTEMmatters.Then,howtomakethembuy
yourfabulouslessonsaboutcoding?Actasanillusionist.

FirstofallswitchyourdigitalboardandopenyourIDE(IveusedBasic256).Startspeakingabout
videogames:howlongtheythinkagameneedstobecoded,typesofgames,etc.Letthem
expressthemselvesaboutthetopic.

ThenstarttoexplainwhatTronis:afilmbyDisneywhichgavewaytoseveralgames.Letthem
goonspeakingaboutdifferentaspectsofthegamewhileyoustarttypingcode.Forsureyoull
listentothesilence(studentssuddenlyshutuphypnotizedbywhatyouaredoing)asyougoon
strikingyourkeyboard,butbreakittoexplainwhatyouaredoingandhow(differentaspectsof
coding,asmainloops,debugging,variables,strategies,etc).

Sometips:

1. Usethehelpwindow:theyshouldrealizetheydontneedtoknoweverythingbyheart.If
doubtspopupahelpingwindowcanalsopopup.
2. Makesomemistakesonpurpose:thatllgivethemagoodviewofwhatdebugingand
trialanderrorare.
3. Showsomehesitationandusetheexpressionletstry
4. Useascaffoldingapproach,constructingthemainalgorithm,andaddingnewelements
arounditasyoucontinue.

MybasicversionofTrongameneedsabout10minutestoptobecoded.Whenyouexecutethe
finalcodeandthestudentsseetheresultstheygetwaysurprisedbyhoweasilyyoucanmake
games.

Thecodingphasesgolikethis:

1. Createamainloopandlistentothekeyboard.IfESCispressedexittheloop.
2. Insertthecodeforthemotorbike(apoint)togodownthescreenwhenpressingthe
downarrow.
3. Dothesamefortherestofthekeys.
4. Movethepointaround,withnophysicalrestraints.
5. Makethealgorithmdetectthewallsleftbythepoint,andmakethemreal.
6. Lettheplayerwinwhengettingtothebottomrightcorner.
7. Addrandomspheresasobstacles.

Thelinesofcodelooklikethis:

Formoreideasaboutwhatgamestocodecheckthefollowinglist.MVCstandsfor
model/view/controller,andAIforartificialintelligence.Thegradeshavebeengiventakingin
count:thatastudenthastocodethem,andBasicsfeatures.

Difficulty Text/graphic MVC Sprites Data AI

Animal,
vegetable, difficult text yes no matrix basic
Arcanoid difficult graphic yes yes matrix no
Asteroids medium graphic no yes array no
Battleship medium both no no matrix no
Bejeweled difficult both yes yes matrix no
Biggestcard easy both no no array no
Checkers difficult both yes no matrix yes
Connectfour medium both yes no matrix yes
Conversation easy text no no variable no
Dodger easy graphic no yes array no
Escapethemaze easy graphic both both matrix no
Guessthenumber easy text no no variable basic
Hangman medium both no no array no
Landonthe
moon medium graphic no yes variable no
Life'sgame medium graphic yes no matrix no
Marble,chips... easy text no no variable no
Mastermind medium text no no array no
Mathsequences medium text no no array no
Poker medium both yes no matrix medium
Pong medium graphic no yes variable no
Puzzle:match
pairs easy both yes yes matrix no
Puzzle:sliding medium both yes yes matrix no
Simonsays easy both yes no array no
Snake difficult graphic yes yes matrix no
Spaceinvaders difficult graphic no yes array no
Textadventure medium text yes no matrix no
Threeinarow medium both yes no matrix medium
Tictactoe easy both yes no matrix basic
Tron easy graphic no no variable no

BIO
Andoni Sanz /ndn sn/ is a Computer Scientist working as a STEM Teacher
and IT researcher. Google Certified Educator and Moodle expert hes
immersed in a non-stop research on technology applied to education combined
with the latest pedagogy trends, as b-learning, gamification or flipped
classes.
Actually hes working on a project called Gamecodization: teaching coding
through video games.

For more information or to contact him:
Blog: http://andonisanz.blogspot.com
Website: http://www.andonisanz.com
Coding: http://www.gamecodization.com
Twitter: @andonisanz