With the rapid growth of the gaming industry, teaching game development in extracurricular education has become increasingly relevant. The analysis of the recommended extracurricular programs revealed that most of them do not completely cover contemporary game design approaches, suggest the use of outdated or expensive software, and advocate russian resources and services. This study presents a PyGame workshop for extracurricular Computer Science education. The workshop was designed as a step-by-step game creation guide, with each step logically connected to the previous and next lessons, ensuring gradual progress. The Python programming language and PyGame library were chosen for the workshop implementation due to their accessibility, extensive documentation, and suitability for beginners. The workshop was implemented as a website using Google Sites, providing easy access to learning materials, code examples, and resources. The collected feedback indicated high levels of engagement and satisfaction with the learning experience.
In a context where programming is becoming an important tool for solving a wide range of problems,
education must provide access to efective and modern teaching methods. In this regard, creating
computer games is an ideal combination of technical and creative components that contribute to the
comprehensive development of students [
Extracurricular education is a flexible tool that allows students to realize their potential through practical activities. In this research, we are trying to examine the interests of students who take part in extracurricular Computer Science events and to test whether they fit what the oficially recommended extracurricular programs propose them to study.
As a result of this comparison, we are going to design an extracurricular course that could fill the gap between students’ expectations and extracurricular programs’ recommendations.
The system of extracurricular Computer Science education in Ukraine is an important component of the
educational process that contributes to the development of the scientific and technical skills of young
people and their interest in information technologies. It is based on Ukraine’s law “On Extracurricular
Education” that regulates extracurricular education, as well as methodological recommendations that
ensure its quality [
The key points of the Ukraine’s law “On Extracurricular Education” [
The Institute of Education Content Modernisation ofers recommendations for the development
of STEM education, particularly Computer Science, in secondary and extracurricular educational
institutions. Special attention is paid to the use of interactive teaching methods, such as organizing
competitions, hackathons, and practical classes in robotics and programming, which contribute to the
practical skills development and stimulate interest in modern technologies [
By its nature, extracurricular education is something that students choose to study voluntarily, that is to say, their interests should be appreciated during the extracurricular programs design. It will ensure their motivation and engagement.
The Computer Science extracurricular education demand can be assessed through the students’
participation in scientific projects contests [
The analysis of the statistics from the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine contests in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast for 2014–2024 demonstrates the diversity of areas that attract students. The most popular Computer Science section throughout the studied period is “Multimedia systems, educational and game programs” (since 2023 “Educational, game programs and virtual reality”). This section consistently demonstrates a high level of student involvement, with over 10 participants every year (figure 1). For comparison, in other areas, the number of participants usually did not exceed 10 people (figure 2).
Despite the high demand from students, the analysis of educational programs recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine showed the absence of specialized courses on game development for extracurricular education (table 1). Some programs partially touch on this topic, such as “Fundamentals of Computer Graphics” by Yu. S. Dorofeyeva, Zh. V. Deineko or “Multimedia Systems, Educational, Game Programs” by V. V. Yefymenko, but their content requires significant changes.
Analysis of existing courses revealed several key problems that may afect the efectiveness of learning. Firstly, some programs have inconsistencies between the programming language, compiler, and sources, which complicates the learning process. In addition, some recommended resources are already outdated and may no longer be supported or relevant to current conditions. Some programs contain paid resources with high costs per user, which can become a barrier for students. Another problem is the presence of russian services and literature, which is unacceptable in the current educational situation, as each program contains such sources.
Given the identified problems, the development of a PyGame workshop for extracurricular Computer Science education appears to be relevant. This will help avoid the mentioned shortcomings, providing
Participants
Percentage 0 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Year
0 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Year students with modern tools for learning programming and creating games that will meet today’s security and relevance requirements.
To develop a PyGame course that meets modern educational needs, it is essential to analyze existing learning programs. This helps identify efective teaching methods, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and integrate the best practices into a new curriculum. The following overview examines three Ukrainian educational courses that include PyGame.
Formula [10] ofers a PyGame course within its “Graphic Programming” section, following an introduction to Python. The course is free and designed STEM education. However, it lacks a clear focus on game development, making PyGame concepts harder to grasp. Additionally, the course structure and navigation are not user-friendly, which may hinder the learning experience.
DystOsvita [11], a Moodle-based distance learning platform, provides a structured PyGame course divided into five modules: a basic game project, event handling, Arkanoid, Mario, and Snake. It is free and suitable for independent learning, with well-organized theoretical explanations preceding practical tasks. However, the course lacks visual examples and has poor text formatting, making content harder to consume. Despite this, its step-by-step approach ensures gradual skill development.
IT Hub [12] ofers a comprehensive PyGame course covering Python fundamentals, game development techniques, and project-based learning. It includes teamwork, a demo game, and a final presentation. However, the course is paid, costing 2,400 UAH per month for three months, which limits its accessibility. Without purchasing access, a further detailed evaluation of its content and methodology is dificult.
This analysis highlights key advantages and limitations in existing courses, providing insights for designing an improved PyGame curriculum that combines efective teaching methods while avoiding current shortcomings.
For the workshop implementation, the Python programming language and the PyGame library were chosen, which is justified by the following factors: • Python is one of the most popular programming languages in the world in various areas of development. • Python is actively used in schools to teach the basics of algorithms and programming, which simplifies the process of integrating a new course into the curriculum. • Python’s easy syntax allows one to quickly master the basics of programming, which is especially important for students who are just starting to learn software development. • PyGame is a set of Python modules designed for writing games, allowing the creation of fully functional games and multimedia programs. • PyGame is highly portable and runs on almost every platform and operating system. • PyGame has a simple core structure, and additional functions are managed by separate modules, which ensures code organization. • PyGame uses the advantages of modern computer architectures by using multiple CPU cores for faster graphics rendering.
For the development of the course, the Google Sites platform was chosen as a convenient tool for creating a free website with a modern design and necessary functionality.
The workshop [13] was designed as a step-by-step course for creating the first game in PyGame, where each step is logically connected with the previous and next ones, ensuring a gradual progress. Unlike the discussed extracurricular programs, we decided to implement a project-based learning technique. The central idea was to make students build a functional yet simple game project, which could be used as a core for their further 2D games. We believe that it should increase their motivation and give an idea of how diferent game design techniques work together. Unlike the school Computer Science course, we could aford more flexible approach in extracurricular education. We expect that our students already know the fundamentals of Python programming.
The workshop begins with a “Main” page, which serves as an introductory one. It presents general information about the course, including the target audience and expected learning outcomes.
The next important part is the “Course” page, where users can familiarize themselves with the PyGame library in more detail. This page presents popular games developed using PyGame, demonstrating the library’s capabilities and motivating students to learn. From this page, users can proceed either to the ifrst step or directly to the second if they already have a configured development environment.
The first step of the workshop is devoted to setting up the development environment. It describes in detail the process of installing or updating Python and the PyGame library.
The second step focuses on creating the game world. At this stage, users learn the basic structure of project files and write the initial game code.
In the third step, characters are added to the game. Users learn to create a player and three diferent types of enemies: fire, ice, and poison.
The fourth step is devoted to creating game objects. At this stage, various elements are added to the game: lava blocks, first-aid kits, and ammunition.
The fifth step is the most complex and covers the implementation of game mechanics. At this stage, users learn to create movement animation, program interaction with objects, implement a shooting system, and manage the health of characters.
The sixth step is the final stage of game creation. Here, users add win and loss menus, improve the game world, and add final touches to the project.
In addition to the main content, the workshop contains a “Resources” page, where all the materials used in the course are arranged: images, videos, and full game code on GitHub [14].
To verify the feasibility, relevance, and efectiveness of the developed course, access to its materials was provided to first-year students of group I-24 who study Python within the “Introduction to Programming” course.
After completing the workshop, the participants completed a feedback survey, which helped gather information about their impressions, the complexity of the materials, the level of interest, and satisfaction with the final results. The survey consisted of two parts: quantitative and qualitative indicators for evaluating the course.
The quantitative assessment on a five-point scale (where 1 is the lowest indicator, 5 is the highest) included the following: • Compliance of the course with expectations (average score 4.6). • Dificulty of the educational material (average score 2.6). • Quality of demonstration examples (average score 4.7). • Level of interest in the process of creating one’s own game (average score 4.7). • Satisfaction with the result (created game) (average score 4.5). • Level of interest in working with Pygame (average score 4).
• Desire to continue studying game development in Pygame (average score 4.4).
The qualitative assessment through open questions included the following: • The most positive aspects of the course. • Elements of the course that need improvement. • The most useful components of the course. • Components that can be optimized or excluded.
• General impressions and suggestions for improvement.
According to the results of the survey, most of the students positively evaluated the course. High scores were given to the quality of demonstration examples, the interest in creating their own game, and satisfaction in working with the Pygame library. Participants noted that the course met their expectations and became a useful and interesting experience for them.
Although some constructive suggestions were received for improving certain aspects of the course, the overall results of the approbation demonstrate the high efectiveness of the workshop. Students noted the practical value of the course, especially in the context of creating their own game projects, which indicates the achievement of the main educational goals.
The conducted approbation confirmed the feasibility of introducing the developed course into the educational process and its compliance with the modern educational needs of students in the field of game development using PyGame.
The analysis of educational programs from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine reveals a lack of specialized game development courses for extracurricular education, despite high student interest. Existing programs require significant revisions and sufer from issues like inconsistencies in programming resources, outdated materials, high costs, and the inclusion of russian literature, which is inappropriate in the current context.
We found that Python and the PyGame library are the optimal solution for learning game development. Ease of use, a large number of educational materials, support for diferent platforms, and wide functionality make PyGame accessible for beginners and convenient for the implementation of game projects.
The development of the workshop structure was based on the principle of step-by-step learning, where each step is logically connected with the previous one. The structure of the course takes into account the interests of students, providing a practical orientation and accessibility of materials such as code, images, and instructions.
Approbation of the course confirmed its relevance and efectiveness. Students positively assessed the accessibility of the material, the quality of demonstration examples, and the opportunity to create their own game. The course met the expectations of most participants, interested them in further studying game development, and became a useful practical experience.
The practical significance of the work lies in the fact that the course can be integrated into coding clubs, groups, or individual training, helping schoolchildren develop logical thinking, creativity, and basic knowledge of game development.
The results of the work demonstrate that the development of such courses is an important step for improving the system of extracurricular education, its adaptation to the interests of students, and trends in the development of information technologies.
During the preparation of this work, the authors used Claude 3.7 Sonnet to enhance content and improve writing style. After using this tool, the authors reviewed and edited the content as needed and took full responsibility for the publication’s content. [10] Formula - brand of the publishing house ’Lingvist’, Pygame: more than just games, 2024. URL: http://surl.li/cpqeil. [11] DystOsvita, Python and pygame course, 2024. URL: http://surl.li/wsrmzf. [12] IT Hub, Game development in python, 2024. URL: http://surl.li/owhxsi. [13] Workshop, Pygame course, 2024. URL: https://sites.google.com/view/kurspopygame/home. [14] Alexandr019, Project on github - pygame, 2024. URL: https://github.com/Alexandr019/pygame.