Terminology

In the Code Skull teaching system, the following terms map directly to fundamental education concepts:

Skull

A component task.

Bounty

A learning objective.

Skill

A learning outcome.

Level

An assessment grade that may be transferable to a traditional letter grade.

Project Objectives

Grading

Adopt a grading system that better incentivises learning:

• A points system is used instead of letter grades;
• Learners start at zero Points;
• Points are earned by collecting Skulls;
• Skulls are collected by completing Bounties;
• Learners gain a Level when enough Points are earned;
• Learners earn different Skills at each Level through their choice of Bounties.

Learner Agency

Structure activities (Bounties) to encourage the idea that the choices learners make actually matter.

• Bounties will have mandatory Skulls that are required to earn Points, but the learner can include optional Skulls that provide point bonuses.
• Skulls will map to Skills that can be earned at the time of a Level-up.
  • End result: two learners with the same Level (which may map to a D letter grade, for example) may have different Skill trees that reflect the choices they have made in their Bounties.
  • Example: one learner may have chosen to implement an image with a JPEG while another may have used an inline SVG. One student may earn points for a Raster Skill and the other may earn them for a Vector Skill (which may itself have multipliers for being more difficult).

Intrinsic Motivation

Create a learning environment that fosters intrinsic motivation in the learners.

• Encourage curiosity by offering optional Skulls they haven’t seen before (perhaps when they Level-up).
  • Example: If a Bounty requires a starting array, provide a default array but also offer a fetch() Skull that requests an array from a public API. Many beginners will not be aware of asynchronous code and study futher on their own time.
• Encourage teamwork by providing bonus Collaboration Skulls for Bounties that are too difficult/impractical to complete alone.
• Facilitate the development of a team identity by providing bonuses for all members if everyone earns a minimum Level/Bounty/Skill.