Leveraging the significant potential of integrating an innovative curriculum, CS Principles, with a highly engaging game-based learning pedagogy, the overarching objective of the Engage project was to develop, implement, and evaluate a middle grade version of the CS Principles course that was fully situated within an immersive game-based learning environment.

The project centered on the design, development, and investigation of the Engage game-based learning environment, which delivers a CS Principles course for middle grade students and their teachers. Throughout the project, a diverse set of over 300 middle school students participated in Engage focus group activities, pilot tests, and classroom implementations. Of the students who provided demographic information, 47% were female, 24% were African American or Black and 16% were Hispanic or Latino/a, 17% were Asian, 38% were White, and 5% of students were Multi-racial. The project also included a focus on teacher professional development. The research team worked closely with a diverse group of teachers throughout the project. These teachers helped to co-design the Engage curriculum and game-based learning activities and provide iterative feedback throughout development. Each of the teachers attended either one or two summer institutes designed to introduce them to computational thinking concepts, to the Engage game-based learning environment, and prepare them for classroom implementations.

Second, the project has made an educational research contribution by evaluating the effectiveness of the Engage game-based learning environment. Investigations to date have focused on assessing problem-solving processes and computer science competencies with qualitative and quantitative data analytic and machine-learning techniques. Using these techniques, research findings have taken steps towards 1) understanding how game-based learning environments like Engage can be integrated into middle school classrooms, 2) investigating how students interact with Engage to solve challenging computational thinking problems, and 3) using machine learning techniques to create models of student competency using student's problem-solving behaviors.

Finally, the project has made contributions to broadening participation in computing by evaluating the effectiveness of Engage with a specific focus on underrepresented groups. Engage has consistently improved students’ understanding of Computer Science concepts. Results from focus groups, pilot tests, and classroom studies show that Engage creates effective, engaging learning interactions. Analyses of summative pre and post-test scores on instruments developed to assess Computer Science concepts knowledge show that students of all ethnicities, male and female students, and students with and without prior programming experiences exhibited significant increases in learning after using Engage.

The project’s results have been reported in thirteen publications that have been presented at international conferences, including the leading conferences in computer science education and intelligent tutoring systems. The project has advanced our understanding of how to design a game-based learning environment for introducing middle school students to Computer Science concepts and for use in the science classrooms. It is anticipated that the findings will inform the design of future game-based learning systems so they can best support learners and t...

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