Assignment 6: Learning through Game Design

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Title: Dnde est Gabriela en la ciudad? (Where in the city is Gabriella?)

Context: Spanish Class
Target Learners: 7th graders
Subjects/Topics Covered: Parts of the city Spanish vocabulary, personal objects

vocabulary, present, past, and future tenses of verbs.

5. Learning Objectives and Standards: The objective of this game is for students to be
able to comprehend clues and directions in Spanish and identify items throughout the city
in order to find Gabriella. The following standards will be addressed:
a.
6. Duration: 12 hours (2+ weeks in the classroom/computer lab)
7. Game Design Task: The students are to create a simulation/mystery/mission type game
in which they will recreate a Spanish-speaking city of their choosing and set the player on
a mission to find their missing friend. The player will follow directions and experience all
different parts of the city as they collect clues to find their friend.
8. The Main Purpose of the Game Design Task: There are a few main purposes for this
game design task: teaching programming skills, teaching problem solving skills, teaching
the game design process, assessing students understanding of Spanish vocabulary and
grammar, fostering creativity, and increasing student interest in Spanish and using
technology/gaming in the foreign language classroom.

9. Software Selection and justification:

Software
Link
Description

GameMaker by YoYo Games

http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker
From the developers: Making games
development accessible to everyone

Justification

means taking away the barriers to getting

started. Using our intuitive Drag and
Drop development environment you can
have your game up and running in a
matter of minutes without ever having to
write any code! GameMakers built-in
language (GML) helps you learn to
program as you go and not jump in at the
deep end of coding. Requiring a big
budget to create beautiful looking games
in now a thing of the past. GameMaker
allows you to implement AAA game
features hassle-free. Bring your games to
life with 2D physics, create a thriving
player base with cross-platform network
play, and create stunning visual effects
using shaders.
After examining multiple websites I felt like
this site was the most compatible for a
simulation type game that can be easily created
by middle school students.

10. Individual vs. Collaborative Game Design: Students will design the game individually.
There are a few reasons for this: the first being that the space at our school is more
conducive to individual work. Secondly, in activities like this 1-2 students end up doing
all of the work will other students do not do anything. It is important that all students are
engaged and that this is a learning experience for each student.
11. Procedures: On the first day I will introduce the project to the students and outline what
is expected of them. On the second day I will go through how to use the website with
each student. Prior to starting this assignment the students will have picked the Spanish
speaking city and have an idea of what their city will look like. They will also have

written out the clues and where Gabrielas ultimate location is. That way when we get in
the lab all they have to do is design. Each game needs a minimum of 10 clues so with 8
days remaining on the project the students should create a different clue each day and
design the environment and task for this clue. ,
12. Evaluation: The students will receive 3 peer evaluations and 1 evaluation from me. Their
peers will evaluate them on the appearance, difficulty, and how engaging the game is. I
will evaluate them on proper use of grammar and vocabulary, appearance of the game,
flow, and difficulty. I also intend to have a game fair after everyone is done so that
students can go around the room and play all of the other students games. Not to
completion of course but just to get a peak.
13. Expected Learning Outcomes and Methods for Measuring Learning outcomes:

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge

Skills

Methods for Measuring

Spanish City Vocabulary and

Learning outcomes
Evaluating their use of

commands, what game design

vocabulary and commands in

is and more specifically what

the game and proper use of

is GameMaker
To design a game using

GameMaker
Examine the complexity and

Spanish content
Games are an effective way

design of their game

of teaching and reinforcing

Enthusiasm and effort

Spanish vocabulary and

towards their game design.

Attitudes
grammar
14. Perceived Barriers and Support Needs: It is imperative that the Internet is working that
day and that there are enough computers for each student to have their own. Student
absences could also be an issue, as the timeline for this project is quite short.

15. Reflection: One of the main things that has been reinforced to me through this project
and taught to me in this class is the opportunities for using digital games in the foreign
language classroom are endless. I always thought games were only for science and math.
I am really excited to incorporate this into my classroom, as I think my students would
love to create their own game. The GameMaker program in particular is great because it
looks very advanced but does most of the hard work for the creator.