Fundamental Computer Science Conceptual Understandings for High School Students Using Original Computer Game Design

In 2009, the North Carolina Virtual Public Schools worked with researchers at the William and Ida Friday Institute to produce and evaluate the use of game creation by secondary students as a means for learning content re-lated to career awareness in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math-ematics (STEM) disciplines, with particular emphasis in computer science areas. The study required the development of various forms of multimedia that were inclusive of content and activities delivered in a distance envi-ronment via the Internet. The team worked with a game art and design graduate class to produce materials and assessment instruments to be in-cluded in the project. The multimedia-based materials were piloted and field tested in online Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses title