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Alignment to the Australian Curriculum

Creating a video game for the challenge draws on many parts of the curriculum and is a great cross-curricula project

It is so much more than a Digital Technology project! Working on an entry in the Australian STEM Video Game Challenge is an excellent summative assessment task. Students must engage in curriculum areas beyond STEM subjects to create an entry including the Game Design Document and video game. In a school setting, the challenge can be broken down by subject in the following ways:

English - reading, writing and reviewing reports and non-fiction texts, narrative writing and storytelling including storyboards

Speaking and Listening - giving and receiving feedback, presenting ideas and justifying choices

Mathematics - algebraic thinking, patterns and coding

Critical thinking - level design and game play

Visual Arts - creating and critiquing visual media considering audience, engagement and style

Music - creating and critiquing sound effects for different purposes

In the drop downs below, we have mapped the components of the STEM VGC with versions 9.0 of Australian Curriculum for Digital Technology. As you will see, it covers almost all content descriptors from years 3 to 10.

Years 3-4

Processes and Production Skills: Privacy and security

Access their school account using a memorised password and explain why it should be easy to remember, but hard for others to guess.
AC9TDI4P08

Identify what personal data is stored and shared in their online accounts and discuss any associated risks.
AC9TDI4P09

Years 5-6

Processes and Production Skills: Privacy and security

Access multiple personal accounts using unique passphrases and explain the risks of password re-use.
AC9TDI6P09

Explain the creation and permanence of their digital footprint and consider privacy when collecting user data.
AC9TDI6P10

Years 7-8

Processes and Production Skills: Privacy and security

Explain how multi-factor authentication protects an account when the password is compromised and identify phishing and other cyber security threats.
C9TDI8P13

Investigate and manage the digital footprint existing systems and student solutions collect and assess if the data is essential to their purpose.
AC9TDI8P14

Years 9-10

Processes and Production Skills: Privacy and security

Develop cyber security threat models, and explore a software, user or software supply chain vulnerability.
AC9TDI10P13

Apply the Australian Privacy Principles to critique and manage the digital footprint that existing systems and student solutions collect.
AC9TDI10P14

Years 3-4

Processes and Production Skills: Investigating and defining

Define problems with given design criteria and by co-creating user stories.

AC9TDI4P01

Processes and Production Skills: Collaborating and managing

use the core features of common digital tools to create, locate and communicate content, following agreed conventions.

AC9TDI4P06

use the core features of common digital tools to share content, plan tasks, and collaborate, following agreed behaviours, supported by trusted adults.

AC9TDI4P07

Years 5-6

Processes and Production Skills: Investigating and defining

Define problems with given or co-developed design criteria and by creating user stories.

AC9TDI6P01

Processes and Production Skills: Generating and designing

Generate, modify, communicate and evaluate designs.

AC9TDI6P04

Processes and Production Skills: Collaborating and managing

Select and use appropriate digital tools effectively to create, locate and communicate content, applying common conventions.

AC9TDI6P07

Select and use appropriate digital tools effectively to share content online, plan tasks and collaborate on projects, demonstrating agreed behaviours.

AC9TDI6P08

Years 7-8

Processes and Production Skills: Investigating and defining

Define and decompose real-world problems with design criteria and by creating user stories.

AC9TDI8P04

Processes and Production Skills: Generating and designing

Generate, modify, communicate and evaluate alternative designs.

AC9TDI8P08

Processes and Production Skills: Collaborating and managing

Select and use a range of digital tools efficiently, including unfamiliar features, to create, locate and communicate content, consistently applying common conventions.

AC9TDI8P11

Select and use a range of digital tools efficiently and responsibly to share content online, and plan and manage individual and collaborative AGILE projects.

AC9TDI8P12

Years 9-10

Knowledge and Understanding: Data representation

Represent documents online as content (text), structure (markup) and presentation (styling) and explain why such representations are important.

AC9TDI10K02

Processes and Production Skills: Investigating and defining

Define and decompose real-world problems with design criteria and by interviewing stakeholders to create user stories.

AC9TDI10P04

Processes and Production Skills: Generating and designing

Generate, modify, communicate and critically evaluate alternative designs.

AC9TDI10P08

Processes and Production Skills: Collaborating and managing

Select and use emerging digital tools and advanced features to create and communicate interactive content for a diverse audience.

AC9TDI10P11

Use simple project management tools to plan and manage individual and collaborative agile projects, accounting for risks and responsibilities.

AC9TDI10P12

Years 7-8

Knowledge and Understanding: Digital systems

Explain how hardware specifications affect performance and select appropriate hardware for particular tasks and workloads.

AC9TDI8K01

Knowledge and Understanding: Data representation

Explain how and why digital systems represent integers in binary.

AC9TDI8K04

Years 9-10

Knowledge and Understanding: Digital systems

Investigate how hardware and software manage, control and secure access to data in networked digital systems.

AC9TDI10K01

Knowledge and Understanding: Data representation

Investigate simple data compression techniques.

AC9TDI10K03

Years 3-4

Knowledge and Understanding: Data representation

Recognise different types of data and explore how the same data can be represented differently depending on the purpose.

AC9TDI4K03

Years 5-6

Knowledge and Understanding: Digital systems

Examine how digital systems form networks to transmit data.

AC9TDI6K02

Years 7-8

Knowledge and Understanding: Digital systems

Investigate how data is transmitted and secured in wired and wireless networks including the internet.

AC9TDI8K02

Processes and Production Skills: Generating and designing

Trace algorithms to predict output for a given input and to identify errors.

AC9TDI8P06

Processes and Production Skills: Producing and implementing

Implement, modify and debug programs involving control structures and functions in a general-purpose programming language.

AC9TDI8P09

Years 9-10

Processes and Production Skills: Generating and designing

Validate algorithms and programs by comparing their output against a range of test cases.

AC9TDI10P06

Processes and Production Skills: Producing and implementing

Implement, modify and debug modular programs, applying selected algorithms and data structures, including in an object-oriented programming language.

AC9TDI10P09

Years 3-4

Knowledge and Understanding: Digital systems

Explore and describe a range of digital systems and their peripherals for a variety of purposes.

AC9TDI4K01

Explore transmitting different types of data between digital systems.

AC9TDI4K02

Processes and Production Skills: Generating and designing

Generate, communicate and compare designs.

AC9TDI4P03

Years 5-6

Knowledge and Understanding: Digital systems

Investigate the main internal components of common digital systems and their function.

AC9TDI6K01

Processes and Production Skills: Generating and designing

Design a user interface for a digital system.

AC9TDI6P03

Years 7-8

Processes and Production Skills: Generating and designing

Design the user experience of a digital system.

AC9TDI8P07

Years 9-10

Processes and Production Skills: Generating and designing

Design and prototype the user experience of a digital system.

AC9TDI10P07

Years 3-4

Processes and Production Skills: Generating and designing

Follow and describe algorithms involving sequencing, comparison operators (branching) and iteration.

AC9TDI4P02

Years 5-6

Processes and Production Skills: Generating and designing

Design algorithms involving multiple alternatives (branching) and iteration.

AC9TDI6P02

Design a user interface for a digital system.

AC9TDI6P03

Years 7-8

Processes and Production Skills: Generating and designing

Design algorithms involving nested control structures and represent them using flowcharts and pseudocode.

AC9TDI8P05

Design the user experience of a digital system.

AC9TDI8P07

Years 9-10

Processes and Production Skills: Generating and designing

Design algorithms involving logical operators and represent them as flowcharts and pseudocode.

AC9TDI10P05

Design and prototype the user experience of a digital system.

AC9TDI10P07

Years 3-4

Knowledge and Understanding: Data representation

Recognise different types of data and explore how the same data can be represented differently depending on the purpose.

AC9TDI4K03

Processes and Production Skills: Producing and implementing

Implement simple algorithms as visual programs involving control structures and input.

AC9TDI4P04

Years 5-6

Knowledge and Understanding: Data representation

Explain how digital systems represent all data using numbers.

AC9TDI6K03

Explore how data can be represented by off and on states (zeros and ones in binary).

AC9TDI6K04

Processes and Production Skills: Producing and implementing

Implement algorithms as visual programs involving control structures, variables and input

AC9TDI6P05

Years 7-8

Knowledge and Understanding: Data representation

Investigate how digital systems represent text, image and audio data using integers.

AC9TDI8K03

Explain how and why digital systems represent integers in binary.

AC9TDI8K04

Processes and Production Skills: Generating and designing

Trace algorithms to predict output for a given input and to identify errors.

AC9TDI8P06

Processes and Production Skills: Producing and implementing

Implement, modify and debug programs involving control structures and functions in a general-purpose programming language.

AC9TDI8P09

Years 9-10

Processes and Production Skills: Generating and designing

Validate algorithms and programs by comparing their output against a range of test cases.

AC9TDI10P06

Processes and Production Skills: Producing and implementing

Implement, modify and debug modular programs, applying selected algorithms and data structures, including in an object-oriented programming language.

AC9TDI10P09

Years 3-4

Processes and Production Skills: Evaluating

Discuss how existing and student solutions satisfy the design criteria and user stories.

AC9TDI4P05

Years 5-6

Processes and Production Skills: Evaluating

Evaluate existing and student solutions against the design criteria and user stories and their broader community impact.

AC9TDI6P06

Years 7-8

Processes and Production Skills: Evaluating

Evaluate existing and student solutions against the design criteria, user stories and possible future impact.

AC9TDI8P10

Years 9-10

Knowledge and Understanding: Data representation

Investigate simple data compression techniques.

AC9TDI10K03

Years 3-4

Processes and Production Skills: Evaluating

Discuss how existing and student solutions satisfy the design criteria and user stories.

AC9TDI4P05

Years 5-6

Processes and Production Skills: Evaluating

Evaluate existing and student solutions against the design criteria and user stories and their broader community impact.

AC9TDI6P06

Years 7-8

Processes and Production Skills: Evaluating

Evaluate existing and student solutions against the design criteria, user stories and possible future impact.

AC9TDI8P10

Years 9-10

Processes and Production Skills: Evaluating

Evaluate existing and student solutions against the design criteria, user stories, possible future impact and opportunities for enterprise.

AC9TDI10P10