Teaching students Object-Oriented Programming(OOP) is challenging but invaluable. Due to its abstract nature, OOP is best taught in a fun and practical context such as game design. This talk will examine the progression of teaching OOP using the drag-and-drop interface of Game Maker to using Pygame.
Pygame is a fantastic way of teaching senior students OOP using Python. This talk will look at the learning progression used to prepare students for using Pygame; and how Pygame can be used as a senior assessment instrument. The talk will seek to answer the following questions:
- Why is OOP important for high school students?
- What are the challenges in teaching OOP?
- Why is game design perfect for teaching OOP?
- What is GameMaker and how can it teach OOP? (Demonstration)
- What is Pygame and how can it teach OOP? (Demonstration)
Watch 'Teaching OOP using Python (Progressing from GameMaker to Pygame)' on PyCon AU's YouTube account
Brad Nielsen
Marist College, Ashgrove
Brad Nielsen is currently the Digital Technology Coordinator at Marist College Ashgrove. He has taught IT for several years, and before that worked for several years as an e-learning specialist for various companies and organisations.
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