Week 1, May 1-7: Why Games for Learning

Learning content vs. systems, projected identity, learning by/through design, theory of fun

Readings:

• Chen. Leet noobs (pp. 1-10).
• Chen. A statement on games and expert gaming and the tl;dr version. [blog posts]
• Floyd. Video games and learning.
• Gee. Learning and identity: What does it mean to be a half-elf? What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy (pp. 51-71).
• Resnick. Computer as paint brush.
• Squire. From content to context.

Optional Readings:

• Koster. A theory of fun for game design.

Games:

• Set up Guild Wars 2 account and join guild.
• Create a Steam account.
• Select and play a tabletop game with family or friends. Pay attention to social dynamics, game mechanics and balance, etc.

Activities:

• Browse The Hotness on Board Game Geek. Read reviews.
• Introduce yourself, gaming history, and which tabletop game you played in the class forums.
• Half the class writes reviews or synopses of readings and/or games. The other half responds.

Activities Related to Major Assignments:

• Tabletop game design: Think of a tabletop game idea that addresses an area of interest for you and write a one-paragraph pitch.

Week 2, May 8-14: Genres and Mechanics and Survey of Games and Learning

Definitions, categories, narrative

Readings:

• Kirriermuir and McFarlane. Literature review in games and learning.
• Hung. Serious games and education. The work of play (pp. 10-30).
• MIT Education Arcade. Moving learning games forward and Using the technology of today, in the classroom today.
• Salen and Zimmerman. Rules of play: Game design fundamentals (pp. 1-27, 71-83).
• Check out the ways to categorize games on Board Game Geek using Adv. Search.

Games:

• Meet up with someone else in Guild Wars 2 and get to level 10.
• Explore Steam’s library. Install Terraria and Dungeons of Dredmor.
• Select and play a tabletop game with family or friends. Pay attention to social dynamics, game mechanics and balance, etc.

Activities:

• Half the class writes reviews or synopses of readings and/or games. The other half responds.

Activities Related to Major Assignments:

• Tabletop game design: Form into groups of 4 or 5 to work on one of the tabletop game ideas for the rest of the course, first prototype due at end of Week 6, June 10. Scope out theme, genre, mechanics, number of players, details, etc. for a two-page document.

 

Week 3, May 15-21: Game design process

Readings:

• Crawford. Chapter 5: The game design sequence. The art of computer game design.
• Dunnigan. Simulation game design. Tabletop.
• Kuittinen and Holopainen. Some notes on the nature of game design.
• Rogers. Level 4. Level up! (pp. 57-82).

Optional Readings:

• Selinker. Kobold guide to board game design.

Games:

• Try crafting and browse the auction house in GW2.
• Play Terraria with others.

Activities:

• Half the class writes reviews or synopses of readings and/or games. The other half responds.

Activities Related to Major Assignments:

• Tabletop game: Write a game design document, work out mechanics and flow.
• Game review: Go to Games for Change and select one of the games to review or pick a different game that you’re interested in. Write up a draft review due Week 8, then a final review due Week 11.

 

Week 4, May 22-28: Game design process, cont.

Readings:

• Aldrich. Using serious games and simulations.
• Barab, Gresalfi, Dodge, and Ingram-Goble. Narratizing disciplines and disciplinizing narratives.
• Kultima. IDE cards.
• Schell. The art of game design: A deck of lenses.

Games:

• Play Terraria and/or Dungeons of Dredmor.
• Play Refraction.
• Try PvP or World vs. World combat in GW2.

Activities:

• Half the class writes reviews or synopses of readings and/or games. The other half responds.
• Check out Pox: Save the People, PhET, and BrainPOP.

Activities Related to Major Assignments:

• Work on tabletop game.
• Work on game review.

 

Week 5, May 29-June 4: More Topics

Computational thinking, civics, virtual worlds, the market, mods

Readings:

• Duncan and Berland. Uncovering play through collaboration and computation in tabletop gaming.
• Kahne, Middaugh, and Evans. The civic potential of video games.
• Nolan and Weiss. Learning cyberspace.
• Richards, Stebbins, and Moellering. Games for a digital age: K-12 market map and investment analysis.
• Squire, DeVane, and Durga. Designing centers of expertise for academic learning through video games.

Games:

• Play more GW2 and/or Terraria and/or Dungeons of Dredmor.
• Play Moneyville games.
• Check out InkleWriter, a tool for making choose-your-own adventure games.

Activities:

• Half the class writes reviews or synopses of readings and/or games. The other half responds.
• Check out the modding scene: ModDB, Skyrim Nexus, and the Steam Workshop.

Activities Related to Major Assignments:

• Work on tabletop game.
• Work on game review.

 

Week 6, June 5-11: Playtesting

Game user research, usability, user experience, engagement, flow, etc.

Readings:

• Chen, Kolko, Cuddihy, and Medina. Modeling but *not* measuring engagement in games.
• Falstein. Evolution of storytelling. (last few slides on flow)
• Fullteron. Chapter 9: Playtesting. Game design workshop (pp. 248-276).
• Leone. Data entry, risk management, and tacos: Inside Halo 4’s playtest labs.

Games:

• Play Dirty Split.
• Play games on Kongregate.

Activities:

• Half the class writes reviews or synopses of readings and/or games. The other half responds.

Activities Related to Major Assignments:

• Tabletop game: Prototype due on June 10. Publish prototypes to class site and write a manual. In the manual, include a “designers’ notes” write-up, providing background and design intent.
• Mod or digital game: Write a one-paragraph pitch for a game mod or a digital game. If pitching a game mod, suggested game is Dungeons of Dredmor, since we all have it now, but it’s very negotiable.
• Work on game review.

 

Week 7, June 12-18: Games Learning Society conference

Activities:

• As prep, check out what’s happened at GLS before, especially with the Hall of Failure sessions.
• Divide and conquer, maintain a backchannel, and take group notes during GLS.
• Tabletop game: Playtest each other’s tabletop games and scope out work to finish them. Revised tabletop game plus a write-up of playtest due Week 8, June 25.
• Mod or digital game: Pitch mod or game ideas. Form teams to work on one of the mod or digital game ideas for the remainder of the course, alpha versions due Week 10, July 8. How big the teams are is flexible since part of it depends on the nature of the mod/game, so we’ll negotiate this when we get to it. Additionally, if it’s a digital game idea, the final deliverable could be a polished design document with a non-functional mockup rather than a full-on game unless it’s a text adventure, etc.

 

Week 8, June 19-25: Assessment, Gamification, and Connected Learning, Oh My!

Readings:

• Chen. The mangle of gaming to socially create meaningful experiences.
• DML’s Connected Learning movement and Mozilla’s Open Badges
• Deterding. 9.5 theses on gamification.
• Malone. Toward a theory of intrinsically motivating instruction.
• Nicholson. Meaningful gamification.
• Reynolds and Chiu. Formal and informal context factors as contributors to student engagement in a guided discovery-based program of game design learning.

Games:

• Play Chore Wars.
• Play a Facebook game.

Activities:

• Half the class writes reviews or synopses of readings and/or games. The other half responds.

Activities Related to Major Assignments:

• Tabletop game: Revised version due June 25 to the course website, along with a write-up of playtest and reasoning for changes.
• Game review: First draft also due June 25.
• Work on game mod or digital game.

 

Week 9, June 26-July 2: Innovative Games and Learning Projects

Gaming for/as science, alternate reality games, games in schools and business

Readings:

• Chen, Horstman, and Bell. Playing science with Foldit. [draft]
• Kim et al. Storytelling in new media.
• McGonigal. Gaming can make a better world. [TED Talk]
• Steinkuehler and Duncan. Scientific habits of mind in VWs.
• Check out Quest to Learn, WoW in Schools, MinecraftEdu, Teach with Portals.
• Check out info about Total Engagement.

Games:

• Play stuff! Find cool games and share! Try a new tabletop game!
• Play Foldit.
• Optional: Mark’s favorite digital game of 2012: FTL: Faster Than Light.

Activities:

• Half the class writes reviews or synopses of readings and/or games. The other half responds.

Activities Related to Major Assignments:

• Work on game mod or digital game.
• Game review: Read at least two and post feedback.

 

Week 10, July 3-9: Intro to Game Studies and New Games Journalism

Ludology vs. narratology, the magic circle, etc.

Readings:

• always_black. Bow nigger.
• Castronova. The Horde is evil.
• Flood. Playing Assassin’s Creed 3 on the Pine Ridge Rez.
• Murray. The last word on ludology vs. narratology in game studies.
• Rodriguez. The playful and the serious.
• Simons. Narrative, games, and theory.
• Sutton-Smith. Play and ambiguity.
• Zimmerman. Jerked around by the magic circle.
• Browse Game Studies.
• Check out Rock Paper Shotgun, Killscreen, and Quarter to Three.

Games:

• Play stuff! Find cool games and share!
• Digital: A Love Story and Analogue: A Hate Story.

Activities:

• Half the class writes reviews or synopses of readings and/or games. The other half responds.

Activities Related to Major Assignments:

• Mod or digital game: Alpha version or game design document due on July 8 including a write-up with install and designer notes. How you submit this depends on the nature of the mod or game.
• Work on game review revisions.

 

Week 11, July 10-16: Gaming Culture and Research

Qualitative vs. quantitative research, ecology of games, cultural production

Readings:

• Boellstorff et al. Ethnography and virtual worlds.[?]
• Chen. Leet noobs.
• Fields and Kafai. Stealing from grandma or generating knowledge?
• Morningstar and Farmer. The lessons of Lucasfilm’s Habitat.
• Stevens, Satwicz, and McCarthy. In-game, in-room, in-world.
• Check out The Daedalus Project.
• Browse Games and Culture.
• Also, Elitist Jerks, Machinima, WoWWiki, Game Rankings, Tabletop.

Games:

• Play stuff! Try games that were reviewed.

Activities:

• Half the class writes reviews or synopses of readings and/or games. The other half responds.

Activities Related to Major Assignments:

• Mod or digital game: Playtest or read at least 2. Provide feedback by July 12.
• Work on mod or digital game revisions after receiving feedback.
• Game review: Final version due July 16 to course site.

 

Week 12, July 17-July 23: Outstanding Issues

Violence, addiction, gender, sexuality, future of learning

Readings:

• JSB. Play and innovation.
• Cover. Gaming (ad)diction: Discourse, identity, time and play in the production of the gamer addiction myth.
• Shaffer, Squire, Halverson, and Gee. Videogames and the future of learning.
• Sarkeesian. Tropes vs Women. Feminist Frequency.

Games:

• A Closed World, Dys4ia, Depression Quest, Lim, etc.

Activities:

• Half the class writes reviews or synopses of readings and/or games. The other half responds.

Activities Related to Major Assignments:

• Mod or digital game: Final mods, digital games, and game design documents due on July 22. Play them.