Experiences using Construct for Education

Hi! I wanted to create this thread to share experiences using Construct for Education. I’ve been asked to create a programming course for 7-10 year olds. I thought of using Construct but I’m not sure if it could work. If you have something to share, please!

I've taught 8 to 14 years old Construct 3. They've always enjoyed it.

However, it may not be called a Programming course. They may not learn 'Programming language' in this course, nor would they understand or write a syntax-based programming after this course. BUT. this course is rather a pre-requisite to programming for them in the future.

Construct can greatly help them get excited about Programming / coding / Mathematics as they directly learn: Problem-solving skills, logical thinking, understand how events are handled, trouble-shooting, variables, data types, if/else, loops, functions, etc.

If they can learn that (above) in a fun way, which thanks to Construct 3 they will for sure, then they're all set to becoming a programmer of future, whether you tell them or not. They'll love programming, or learning a programming language in the future themselves.

So, I think the course could be "Game Development for Kids" with all its learning outcomes related to programming as Construct 3 does develop all the skills required for Programming.

I taught it for a year. I created a step by step with pictures tutorials for platform, racing, “flappy bird,” 2 player projectile game, and a low rent “BalloonPop” type games. We would start out all together for each game, but after the initial directions, then they went on their own using the tutorials while I facilitated and guided through any errors.

It had a good response with most of the students. A few of them begin to add to their games, such as create new characters, obstacles, or levels.

It is a nice way for them to have success while learning some of the functions in programming a game (Example: If I press this button, the person will only do this, unless I add this condition.)

The tuts helped for students that aren’t motivated, but also the ones who were motivated just enjoyed plowing through and not have to wait for the others to catch up. Tutorials took lots of time to prepare.

Thanks for your answer staleevolution. That's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. I am planning a 5-day (1 hour each) course for an educational tech event. I guess I'll accept and share any comments in this thread just in case.