The course has two central texts:
[Gee] = Gee, James Paul. What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2007. ISBN: 9781403984531.
[Schell] = Schell, Jesse. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. A K Peters / CRC Press, 2014. ISBN: 9781466598645. [Preview with Google Books]
| WEEK # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | None |
| 2 | Designing Curriculum for Commercial Off the Shelf Games |
Hunicke, Robin, Marc LeBlanc, et al. “MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Gesign and Game Research.” 2004. [Gee] Chapters 1 and 2. |
| 3 | Designing Curriculum for Commercial Off the Shelf Games |
[Gee] Chapters 3 and 4. Duncan, Sean. “Fiasco and Failure: Uncovering Hidden Rules in a Story Game (PDF). Well Played: A Journal on Video Games, Value and Meaning 3, no. 1 (2014): 11-32. Nealen, Andrew. “Ascension: A Case Study in Deck Building Games.” (PDF - 1.1MB) Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA), 2013. Duncan, Sean. “Minecraft, Beyond Construction & Survival.” Well Played: A Journal on Video Games, Value and Meaning 1, no. 1 (2011): 1–22. Learning with Computer Games & Simulations. The Center for Implementing Technology in Education. |
| 4 | Designing Curriculum for Commercial Off the Shelf Games |
[Gee] Chapters 5 and 6. Harger, Bakker. “Improv.” ETC Press & Morningstar, and Segedy. “Fiasco Companion Excerpt.” 2011. Berland, Matthew. “Understanding Strategic Boardgames as Computational Thinking Training Machines.” ETC Press, 2011.
Lauwaert, Maaike. “Challenge Everything?: Construction Play in Will Wright’s SimCity.” Games and Culture 2, no. 3 (2007): 194–212. |
| 5 | Multiplayer Games |
[Gee] Chapters 7 and 8. Levy, Frank, and Richard J. Murnane. “How Computerized Work and Globalization Shape Human Skill Demands.” In Learning in the Global Era: International Perspectives on Globalization and Education. University of California Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780520254367. Johnson, Soren. “Playing the Odds.” Gamasutra. March 16, 2010. Squire, Kurt, et al. “From Users to Designers: Building a Self-Organizing Game-Based Learning Environment.” TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning 49, no. 5 (2005): 34–43. Steinkuehler, Constance, and Sean Duncan. “Scientific Habits of Mind in Virtual Worlds.” Journal of Science Education and Technology 17, no. 6 (2008): 530–43. |
| 6 | Game Gurriculum Presentations | None |
| 7 | Game Curriculum Presentations (cont.) | None |
| 8 | Board Games |
Optional Readings[Schell] Chapters 1 and 2. |
| 9 | Board Games (cont.) |
Readings DueNicholson, Scott. “From Settlers to Quarriors: Breaking up the Monopoly with Modern Board Game Design.” Modern Board Game Colloquim 2011. September 13, 2011. Optional Readings[Schell] Chapters 3 and 4. Presentations
|
| 10 | Board Games (cont.) |
Readings DueDaviau, Selinker, et al. Excerpts - Kobold Guide to Board Game Design_._ Open Design LLC, 2012. ISBN: 9781936781041. Optional Readings[Schell] Chapters 5 and 6. Pulsipher, Lewis. “Characteristics of Boards.” Gamasutra. January 26, 2015. PresentationsJoplin, Laura. “On Defining Experiential Education.” Journal of Experiential Education 4, no. 1 (1981): 17-20. McGonigal, Jane. “Why I Love Bees: A Case Study in Collective Intelligence Gaming.” (PDF) The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning (2008): 199–228. |
| 11 | Board Games (cont.) |
Optional Readings[Schell] Chapters 7 and 8. PresentationsWiggins, Grant, and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development, 2005. ISBN: 9781416600350. [Preview with Google Books] Mislevy, Robert, et al. “A Brief Introduction to Evidence Centered Design.” ETS Research Report Series 2003, no. 1 (2013): 2003. |
| 12 | Board Games (cont.) |
Optional Readings[Schell] Chapters 9 and 10. Presentations
|
| 13 | Board Games (cont.) |
Optional Readings[Schell] Chapters 11 and 12. Presentations
Squire, Kurt. “From Content to Context: Videogames as Designed Experience.” Educational Researcher 35, no. 8 (2006): 19–29. |
| 14 | Board Game Presentations | None |
| 15 | Board Game Presentations (cont.) | None |
| 16 | Digital Games |
Readings DueBogost, Ian. “Intro, Empathy, Exercise, Conclusion_.” In _How to Do Things With Video Games. University of Minnesota Press, 2011. ISBN: 9780816676477. OptionalBogost, Ian. “The Cathedral of Computation.” The Atlantic Monthly. January 15, 2015. |
| 17 | Digital Games (cont.) |
Readings Due“A-Games Educator Survey.” (PDF - 9.7MB) NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, and University of Michigan School of Learning. 2014. |
| 18 | Digital Games (cont.) | Zimmerman, Eric. “Play as Research: The Iterative Design Process (PDF - 5.2MB).” 2003. |
| 19 | Digital Games (cont.) | None |
| 20 | Digital Games (cont.) |
Excerpt from  Flanagan, Mary. Critical Play: Radical Game Design. MIT Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780262518659.
|
| 21 | Digital Games (cont.) | Fullerton, Tracy. “Playtesting.” Chapter 9 in Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games. AK Peters/CRC Press, 2014. ISBN: 9781482217162. |
| 22 | Digital Games (cont.) |
Wilson, Douglas. “Designing for the Pleasures of Disputation.” (PDF - 6.2MB) 2012. Consalvo, Mia. “Cheating Can Be Good For You: Educational Games and Multiple Playstyles.” In Beyond Fun: Serious Games and Media. ETC Press, 2007. |
| 23 | Digital Games (cont.) | None |
| 24 | Digital Games (cont.) |
Shute, Valerie. Stealth Assessment: Measuring and Supporting Learning in Video Games. MIT Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780262518819. [Preview with Google Books]
|
| 25 | Digital Games presentations | None |
| 26 | Digital Games presentations (cont.) | None |
