ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the iDesign project, the model on which it is based, and the early results from the implementation. iDesign is a three-year, National Science Foundation-funded project to create a video game design curriculum for after-school computer clubhouses. iDesign's priority is to give young people who are often underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) opportunities to learn and apply concepts and design practices that are common in computer programming in the context of serious game design and development. The pedagogical foundation of the iDesign curriculum is a set of three, interrelated instructional routines: Introduction to the principles of game design, Investigating topics of personal relevance and learning to translate them into computer games, and executing the game design using computer programming and computational thinking. iDesign uses existing digital tools to introduce students to game development and computational computer development.
