CLARKSVILLE, TN − Austin Peay State University has a rich history of introducing children within the community to video game design and coding. Since their launch eight years ago, the university’s Summer Coding Camps have evolved their curriculum to keep students engaged and provide them with valuable skills.
This summer’s offerings range from Roblox game design to Minecraft leadership challenges, and registration is still open for several camps scheduled throughout July.
“The camp materials have changed quite a bit over the years,” said Dr. James Church, one of the founders of the program and an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology. “We’ve gravitated towards the most popular materials that engage the kids.”
Church said a key goal was to introduce children to coding naturally, using popular programs like Roblox that they already find interesting.
“Kids love Roblox and what’s great is that there are programming environments that are accessible to anyone behind these environments,” Church said. “We have the skills and expertise in order to teach these environments to young children.”
That hands-on, student-centered approach has been key to the Summer Coding Camps’ enduring popularity and success.
“I tried making my own Roblox game and watched a YouTube video, but I didn’t get it,” said Fox Moreno, a student at the coding camp. “It’s easier to learn the code here.”
The program started seven years ago when Bridget Cloud, now an instructor in the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology, initiated the camp as a student through a grant from Google. They taught in Unity, and over the years added a wide range of content, from scratch coding to Minecraft.
Austin Rowland, a camp instructor, stated that acclimating camp attendees to programming and game design was the main priority.
“You can’t expect the people who come in to fully understand everything they’re typing out,” Rowland said. “You want them to get more comfortable with seeing code and interacting with it, you also want to show them what the full game development process looks like … we want to give them a look into the different aspects of game development, and I think Roblox is a great way to do that.”
Students spent their time at the camp programming and workshopping their games while learning the coding involved.
“My favorite part was designing the map with my friend,” said Noah Watson, a coding camp student. “We got to collaborate.”
Church said familiarizing children with technology while they’re young is important so they can understand and work with it.
“So many people see computers as a mysterious product,” he said. “I want to say ‘no, it’s not mysterious. There are things going on inside. Let’s talk about how those things work.’”