eprintid: 1535830 rev_number: 28 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/01/53/58/30 datestamp: 2017-01-14 22:46:35 lastmod: 2021-10-24 23:50:20 status_changed: 2017-04-04 14:03:22 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Allsop, Y title: A reflective study into children’s cognition when making computer games ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B16 divisions: B14 divisions: J82 note: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Allsop, Y; (2015) A reflective study into children's cognition when making computer games. British Journal of Educational Technology , 47 (4) pp. 665-679, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12251. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. abstract: In this paper, children’s mental activities when making digital games are explored. Where previous studies have mainly focused on children’s learning, this study aimed to unfold the children’s thinking process for learning when making computer games. As part of an ongoing larger scale study, which adopts an ethnographic approach, this research reports on how children think when making their own computer games using their “Thinking Maps” and video recordings of group discussions. A model for Thinking for Learning, “think-to-learn-to-think,” is discussed and children’s activities are used to define the stages of this cycle. The study of children’s pre–during–after project “Thinking Maps” and explanations during group discussions suggests that their thinking sequences were altered during and after their game design activities. The children presented their “thinking process” when designing computer games as a continual circular cycle and described their mind as a virtual lab to plan and visualise solutions before testing them on screen, using the “Alice” game design program. date: 2016-07 date_type: published official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12251 oa_status: green full_text_type: other language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1201251 doi: 10.1111/bjet.12251 lyricists_name: Allsop, Yasemin lyricists_id: YALLS14 full_text_status: public publication: British Journal of Educational Technology volume: 47 number: 4 pagerange: 665-679 issn: 0007-1013 citation: Allsop, Y; (2016) A reflective study into children’s cognition when making computer games. British Journal of Educational Technology , 47 (4) pp. 665-679. 10.1111/bjet.12251 <https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12251>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1535830/1/Allsop_BJET%20journal.pdf