[game_edu] Core Experiences

[S. Gold]

From: Burke, Robin
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 10:29 AM
To: game_edu at igda.org
Subject: Core Experiences

[Great to see everybody here at the education summit. I'm here until
Friday.]

Much as I like the current draft, I feel that there's an important item
missing from the Curriculum Framework. The framework concentrates on "Core
Topics" to be covered in coursework. This is very useful, but it only goes
so far. Imagine a curriculum in which students ONLY get lectures drawn from
these topics followed by multiple-choice tests on their retention of the
material. Bleh! I think we all agree that such an education would be
seriously inadequate, but some evil-doer could in theory create such a
curriculum and claim that they were following the IGDA framework.

Game development education really requires active learning, so I think our
curriculum framework should push educators to give students valuable
experiences as well as to "cover topics". My proposal is to augment the
"Core Topics" with "Core Experiences". (I suggested this in my comments on
the current draft, but the idea was insufficiently worked out to make the
cut this time around.)

I'd like to get a discussion going here and on the wiki on what some of
these core experiences might be. I have an initial set of core experiences
included below based on my own (very brief) contemplation of this issue.
This list is very incomplete, and as usual, I can imagine a lot of debate
about what is "core" or not, but I think it is more important at this stage
to collect the experiences that you all think are important. We can always
prioritize and combine later.

I've put up a page for this topic on the wiki at
http://igda.org/wiki/Core_Experiences for your editing pleasure. The Core
Experiences are categorized in the same headings as the Core Topics.

Robin Burke
CTI

1.      Critical Game Studies
Write a game review
Read game criticism
Write game criticism

2.      Games and Society
Debate ethical / social  issues in games

3.      Game Design
Read a game design document
Write (part of) a game design document
Design a non-computer game
Playtest a self-designed game
Design a level
Modify an existing game to meet some design criterion
Have your design critiqued

4.      Game Programming
Write game engine code
Write game physics code
Write gameplay code
Write AI code
Write scripting for gameplay and/or AI
Operate an asset pipeline
Use a version control tool

5.      Visual Design
Design / model / light / texture a game asset
Design / model / light / texture a game character
Rig and animate a model
Have your art critiqued

6.      Audio Design
???

7.      Interactive Storytelling
Write a game script
Read a game script
Play an old-style text adventure

8.      Game Production
Be a team member
Be a team leader
Be a functional lead
Engage in a project post-mortem
Give a presentation on your work

9.      Business of Gaming
Assemble a portfolio

-- 
Susan Gold
goldfile at gmail.com

³In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom!² - J. G. Ballard

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