TC830 Introduction to Serious Games

Overview

Through the process of play, we (humans) can learn and problem solve. Further, play invokes powerful emotions in players that provide incentive, motivation, and engagement not found in most other forms of learning. While many prescribe play as solely a childhood activity, it has powerful application for learning well into adulthood. This notion can be found in the recent "serious games" movement. Serious games are games which are built for a purpose beyond just entertainment or entertainment games that can be reapplied for serious purposes, including games for learning, games for health, games for change, and advergames.

In this course, students will explore the rationales, principles, processes, and pedagogies for serious game design while gaining a foundation in serious game development. Students will also explore applications of serious game genres and simulations through playtesting and analysis. The business of serious games will also be examined, including funding and distribution.

Course objectives include:

• To apply pedagogical principles and research findings to design and evaluation of games, simulations, and other high impact learning objects, including embedding assessment, scaffolding and distributed cognition.
• To accommodate context-appropriate audience characteristics while considering issues such as age, gender, digital divide, and accessibility considerations.
• To explore different approaches to designing elements of gaming in interactive learning experiences.

Prerequisites:

This course is for masters students, particularly those in the serious games program or certificate. However, the course is open to non-major graduate students and advanced undergraduate students as space allows.

There are no set prerequisites for the course. However, the course is by application only. A reasonable level of technical competency with digital media design tools, such as Photoshop and web authoring, is assumed.

Contact Information and Office Hours:

Brian Winn
Email: winnb@msu.edu
Office: 420 Comm Arts Bldg.
GEL Lab: 253 Comm Arts Bldg.
Phone: 353-5497

Usually the best way to reach me is through email. I prefer that all questions relating to class materials be ask either on the class web site, in person, or through email.

Office hours will be held during the following times:

Brian Winn in room 420
Wednesday 1:30-3:30
or by appointment

Computer Lab Hours

Sunday	12pm to 10pm
Monday	8am to 10pm
Tuesday	8am to 10pm
Wednesday	8am to 10pm
Thursday	8am to 10pm
Friday	8am to 5pm
Saturday	12pm to 10pm

Check the for open hours to see when no classes are in the lab.

Please note the Acceptable Use of MSU equipment and services.

Course Web Site

Reading and Reference Materials

Developing Serious Games
By: Bryan Bergeron
Charles River Media
ISBN 1-58450-444-7

Beginning Flash Game Programming
By: Andy Harris
Wiley Publishing
ISBN 0-7645-8962-8

Additional reading and reference materials will be distributed in class or available on the web. This includes a variety of academic research papers, articles, book excepts, and web resources.

Other Course Materials

In addition to your student AFS storage space, it is highly suggested that you have an additional method of storing your course work. Availabe storage methods in the lab include:

• iPod or Portable Hard Drive (USB or Firewire)
• USB Flash Drive
• CD-RW (650 MB)
• DVD-RW Media (5GB)

The storage media is available from several computer and office stores around town. You can also purchase them from online store, such as Amazon.com.

Attendance

Class Times:
Tuesday 6:00-8:50p

We will meet in CAS 246 on most days.

Attendance is required on all class days. There are no makeups. If you must miss a class, check the Web pages for what you have missed and ask a friend in the class. The class includes lecture, discussion, demonstrations, and work sessions.

If you already know the material that is being covered, please participate in the teaching process, rather than leaving or sitting there feeling bored. Let us know of your expertise as we go along and we will include you as an expert.

Religious Observance: If you wish to be absent from class to observe a religious holiday, make arrangements in advance with the instructor.

Missing Class to Participate in a Required Activity: To be excused from this class to participate in a required activity for another course or a university-sanctioned event, you must provide the instructor with adequate advanced notice and a written authorization from the faculty member of the other course or from a university administrator.

Assignments

Grading: All assignments will be graded on a 4.0 scale. While each assignment may receive fractional grades (ex: 3.78), the final class grade will be rounded to the nearest 0.5 increment (ex: 3.0, 3.5, 4.0).

For each assignment, we will layout the guidelines of what we will be grading on. In general, we will be looking for well thought out work with attention to detail, as is expected of graduate students. The grading standards are based on an industry-quality measure.

We will provide a base-level of feedback on our grading. Additional feedback will be available by request.

Policy on Late Work: Assignments must be turned in sometime during the day they are due. We may begin grading them as early as 8am the next morning. Assignments that are one day to one week late will be marked down one full point (i.e., if it was a 4.0, it is a 3.0, etc). Assignments that are more than one week late will be marked down an additional full grade point. If the assignment is not turned in by the end of finals week, you will receive a 0.0 on that assignment.

You must make every effort to submit your assignments on time. However, we recognize that technology problems can get in the way of submitting a project on time. And we recognize that multimedia design always takes longer than one expects.

With this said, there are at least three good reasons that you should turn assignments in on time:

• There is a lot of work in the course, if you procrastinate on assignments, you will not be able to catch up.
• The assignments are not just busy work. By doing the assignments, you will be gaining valuable knowledge and skills. Further, each assignment builds upon the knowledge and skills of the previous one.
• We will have time to provide feedback to you on how to improve your work, which you can apply to your future assignments.

The one exception to this rule is in class presentations. You must be ready to present on the date you are assigned to present. The presentation will be rescheduled only in extreme circumstances.

Academic Honesty

Academic Honesty: Article 2.3.3 of the Academic Freedom Report states that "the student shares with the faculty the responsibility for maintaining the integrity of scholarship, grades, and professional standards." In addition, the Department of Telecommunicatoin adheres to the policies on academic honesty as specified in General Student Regulations 1.0, Protection of Scholarship and Grades, and in the all-University Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and Grades, which are included in Spartan Life; Student Handbook and Resource Guide.

Plagiarize: Copying material and claiming it as your own is considered plagiarism. Make sure you cite all of your sources and give credit where credit is due.Students who plagiarize may receive a 0.0 on the assignment or fail the course.

Copyright: Most material developed by others is protected by the Copyright Act. There are guidelines available for "fair use" of copyrighted material for education. Make sure you adhere to these fairly restrictive guidelines. And once again, give credit where credit is due.

If you plan to use your project outside of the class setting, make sure you receive permission from the copyright holder for all copyrighted material.

Submitting Work from Other Classes: The Digital Media Art and Technology courses in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences are creative courses. It is not acceptable to turn in the same creative assignment to more than one course. (If you wish to do a larger project that counts for two different courses, please ask permission of the instructors.) It is not acceptable to turn in the same creative assignment in two different semesters. DMAT faculty talk to each other often, and outstanding projects are shown at the annual DMAT Student Showcase. If we discover the same assignment being turned in to more than one course without prior instructor approval, the project grade will revert to 0.0.

Classroom Courtesy

The classroom is a community, and, as such, the instructor requires that the students must follow several basic guidelines:

Cell Phones: The instructor has a strict no cell phone policy (this includes pager’s and PDA phones) during class time. If you have a cell phone, be absolutely sure that it is turned off during class. If any student engages in a phone discussion during class, they will be immediately asked to leave.

Late Arrival: The instructor understands that there are often unpredictable events that prevent students from arriving to class on time. If this is the case, please be respectful of others, and enter the class as quietly as possible.

Departing Early: It is extremely rude and oftentimes disruptive to both fellow classmates and the instructor when students leave early without a genuine reason. If you know in advance that you are going to be forced to leave the class early, be absolutely sure that you take a seat as close to the exit as possible so that when you do leave, your departure will cause a minimum of disruption. You should also notify the instructor at the beginning of class of your early departure.

In Class Talking: It is extremely important that all students respect their peers (as well as the instructor) and refrain from any unnecessary disruptive talking during class. The instructor encourages an open environment in which everyone has a right to express their own opinions and ideas. However, everyone should be able to do so without having to talk over any of their peers in order to be heard.

Portable Music Devices: Under no circumstances are students allowed to use portable music devices (MP3 players, CD Players, etc.) during class. You come to class to learn. If students are observed using portable music devices when the class starts, they will be asked to put the device away. If they persist on using the device, they will be asked to leave the class.

Portable Video Game Systems: Under no circumstances are students allowed to use portable video game systems (GameBoy, etc.) during class. If students are observed using a portable video game system when the lecture starts, they will be asked to put the device away. If they persist on using the device, they will be asked to leave the class.

Accommodations for Disabilities

Students with disabilities should contact the Resource Center for People with Disabilities to develop reasonable accommodations. For an appointment with a counselor, call 353-9642 (voice) or 355-1293 (TTY).

Course Assignments