StarLogo TNG: An Introduction to Game Development

The science of developing computer programs offers a rich educational experience that can help students gain fluency with information technology. Unfortunately, while computers have become commonplace in schools, the practice of teaching programming is being squeezed out of high school and middle school curricula. We believe that programming should be reintroduced to students, and that this can be done by focusing on video game construction, a compelling subject area for many students. Given the current expertise required to create a modern video game, new tools are needed to make this experience accessible to students. We have developed StarLogo TNG, a visual programmingand 3Dbased environment that enables students to easily program their own games. It uses graphical programming to ease the learning curve for programming, and 3D graphics to make the developed games more realistic. An initial pilot study has shown that these innovations appeal to students, and in particular appeal to girls.