Introducing programming concepts through video game creation

This paper presents adaptable materials that teach programming fundamentals via game programming with Greenfoot, a free Java based game development platform. The materials consist of five independent modules, each of which focuses on a group of related computing fundamentals. Each module includes the shell of a game, lessons that teach programming fundamentals, hands-on exercises that apply the fundamentals to add functionality to the game, and questionnaires and content-based quizzes that can be used to assess the effectiveness of the lessons. An instructor's guide is also included. These materials were used to teach computing concepts to high school students in two different venues in summer 2011 and 2012. Formal assessments found that the students experienced a significant increase in knowledge in computing and an increased interest in computing and likelihood of taking computing courses in the future. The paper describes the motivation for this work, how it relates to other works, the teaching and assessment materials, the key concepts covered in each module, the venues in which the materials were tested, and the results. It also discusses how the instructional materials can be used in other venues and provides a link to the materials so that others may use them.