NOTE: Registration will close for this program at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 18, 2022.
The Smithsonian Science Education Center is inviting middle school teachers to a multi-day virtual STEM Master Class in Game Design and Coding! We will explore what game design and computer science might have to say about how we learn, how teaching these subjects might look like in the classroom, and how to prepare our students for the future. Be prepared to think through challenging questions and reflect on your own teaching and learning experiences. Classes will include a mix of small group discussion, Q&A, and hands on design activities including some programing in Scratch.
The Master Class will run as a three-session series, one day per week over three weeks. Each session will be 60 mins in length. By the last day you will have designed your own class activity on game design!
No coding experience is necessary for this course. A laptop or desktop computer is strongly recommended, as participants will not be able to have full functionality of Scratch™ if using a tablet or mobile device. Participants should also have access to an internet browser on that device to use during the class sessions.
Note: Sessions will be recorded and made available to enrolled students after each class, however, breakout rooms will not be recorded so you may not get all the information presented by solely watching the recordings.
Registration Details:
This course is FREE, but you must register to attend. Registration is first-come, first-serve, and you must complete the entire registration process on this webpage to be enrolled. Once your transaction is complete, you will receive an email receipt from Smithsonian Associates. Any/all questions or concerns should be directed to SummerCamp@si.edu.
About the Instructor:
Victor Lucena is the Instructional Designer and Producer at the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC). He is responsible for designing digital media, games, and simulations for learning to pair with and extend SSEC curricula and initiatives. With a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a minor in music from Cornell University, he taught online CS courses to children from 8 to 16 years old on everything from block-based coding to advanced algorithms. He recently completed his master’s in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education under the Learning Design Innovation Technology.
This program was developed with generous support from Johnson & Johnson. For more information on SSEC, please visit www.ssec.si.edu.
