There is a lot to describe when explaining the challenges I faced when creating my educational game. First off, I decided to create a game on punnet squares because I feel like this could be a fun way to introduce the concept of Mendelian genetics. I remember learning about how to make punnet squares in high school and how my teacher did not make the lesson too interesting. She simply drew the punnet squares on the board and taught us in a basic way. As a future science teacher, I wanted my game to replace an in-class lesson so my students could have fun when learning this concept and grow to love punnet squares! I can honestly say that this game looks a lot easier than it really is to create. I made up a storyline of student interns interning for the father of genetics, Gregor Mendel. These students are running a pet store where customers come in and ask them to breed parents to result in certain offspring with desired traits they want for their pet. The students then need to choose two parents with certain genotypes to result in offspring with the desired phenotypes of the customer. The students then make a punnet square and calculate the genotypes and phenotypes of the babies. After the students cross the parents, I would check their answers and grade them using the answer key I provided in the game. When students play this game, I would not provide the answer key because I would like to assess them. However, I included it in this project to show you what I would use to assess the student’s answers.

The purpose of my Punnet Pet Shop game is for students to be able to solve punnet square problems and figure out the probabilities of the genotypes and phenotypes of the offspring generation. After playing this game, students should be able to complete worksheets on punnet squares and learn the skill of discovering the probabilities of inheritance when crossing two parents. Students will be required to complete a worksheet on punnet square problems after playing this game and hand it in. I will use their answers to assess how well they understand the concept of heredity and punnet squares (Click the button below for the worksheet).

​

​

​

​

    I faced many challenges when creating the Punnet Pet Shop. First off, I researched the different game maker websites and software. Twine was a story maker and would not work for what I wanted because I wanted a more hands-on game.  The other software: Stencyl, Gamemaker, and GameStar Mechanics, were the opposite of Twine and did not allow me to add words into my game. This would not work because I wanted a hands-on learning game where students would be given instructions and then be able to perform a task. Thus, I began researching other resources to create a game and ended up with Microsoft PowerPoint! I found this intriguing because I did not know that PowerPoint had properties that allow you to create a game! This is where my challenges all began.

​

    I began making the storyline for my game and adding the background information that the students need in order to make their punnet squares correctly. After the first few slides, I hit an issue. I did not know how to integrate a type of quiz option where students could choose the correct answer, so I looked up some videos on YouTube to try to overcome this obstacle. After watching at least 5 videos and trying everything the videos told me to do, I learned that one must add a certain code to be able to enable this action into PowerPoint. I also had to play with the settings and enable many features, such as the macros, that are automatically disabled by the default PowerPoint. After I thought I did everything correctly and tested slide to see if it worked, it only halfway worked. Students could click on the answer and it would tell them if they were right or wrong, but the box that popped up said “error.” I did some more research and ended up downloading a template I found online that actually allowed me to end up with the result I desired, however, now I needed to transfer my entire PowerPoint to the new template.

Another even larger issue I encountered was when trying to create the ‘drag and drop’ property into my game. I spent at least 3 hours watching tutorials, adding certain codes, enabling and disabling settings, and still, nothing seemed to work. I was so frustrated that I closed my computer and decided I would try again the next day. The next day came and I still could not seem to figure it out. The online templates all required a fee, so I did not want to use them. After researching for a while more, I finally found a free online template that I could download and use. This template allowed me to use the ‘drag and drop’ feature I needed for my game to be successful, however, once again, I needed to transfer my entire original PowerPoint slides to this new template. After I solved these issues, I was able to navigate through my game more easily and create the rest of the game efficiently.

​

    I learned a lot from this project that I will definitely benefit from and use in my future career as a science teacher. Now I know how to use PowerPoint to its full potential. I am able to create games for my students to make learning more fun. I learned about the various types of games that could be created using PowerPoint. All you need is the correct templates and codes. I learned about where to insert the codes needed and what words you must write in the script in order to end up with the properties you desire, like the ‘drag and drop’ option. I will definitely use the game I created when teaching my students about Mendelian genetics and punnet squares. I played the game myself and feel like it is very interactive and allows students to learn on their own pace. They are able to go back in the game and read background information about genetics if they do not understand a certain term that they come across. They also do not need to feel bad if they get a question wrong because they are not being graded on it, just simply learning.