Coding Challenge

Collaborative build: Coding Challenge

Open in Minecraft

Submitted by: Minecraft Education

Updated: September 16, 2023

Learning objectives

Take on varying roles, with teacher guidance, when collaborating with peers during the design, implementation, and review stages of program development. 1B-AP-16

Describe choices made during program development using code comments, presentations, and demonstrations. 1B-AP-17

Test and debug (identify and fix errors) a program or algorithm to ensure it runs as intended. 1B-AP-15

Use an iterative process to plan the development of a program by including others' perspectives and considering user preferences. 1B-AP-13

Overview Students will be building collaboratively a coding challenge / coding challenges for their peers to solve. They need to come up with story and the challenge. The challenge needs to involve at least 2 of the concepts that were covered in this course.

 

Things to keep in mind

• The lesson provides a lot more freedom in how students will tackle the activities

• The lesson is collaborative, which means students will be working in groups in the same world

• No “reset” activity is provided for this lesson

• No “activity complete/ lesson complete” signs are provided for this lesson

LESSON RUNDOWN:

• 10-15 min – Review

• 10-15 min – Planning, forming groups

• 40-45 min – Collaborative build

• 5-10 min – Swapping the builds

• 10-15 min – Coding puzzles solution

• 5-10 min – Wrap-up  

Collaborative Building

Students need to work in groups to decide which area they will be building in. Recommended number of players per world is 4-5. Students have a choice: they can either try the presented activities or build their own with code.

Students land in a forest and they have a plot of land where they can design a coding activity for their peers. Encourage them to be as creative as possible and make sure that they go through these stages of creative process:

- Brainstorming: what to build, what coding concepts will be used in the activity

- Creating a blueprint: what the build will be and what the coding experience will be

- Building the experience in Minecraft: build the coding activity, write instructions on what needs to be done (using boards)

- QA or Testing the coding experience in Minecraft: does the activity function as intended in Minecraft? Is it clear from the instructions what students need to do to solve the coding challenge? Is it clear when the activity is solved?

- Having a record of coding solution for the activity

- *(optional) Recording the project running in Minecraft

- **(extra challenge) Ensuring that the activity will work in a multiplayer scenario.  

Success criteria:

1. Instructions: Have you left instructions in the world?

2. Meeting the requirements: Did you meet all the requirements? (using the concepts)

3. Testing: Were you able to solve your activity?

*The Assessment rubrics are included as a separate document.  

Skills

  • Creativity
  • Critical thinking