Jon A. Preston

Engagement: gaming throughout the curriculum

This paper considers how gaming has been infused into the computing curriculum of institutions in the United States. To increase motivation of students and improve retention, many programs have begun using gaming in their introductory courses, as upper level electives, or as separate degree programs. The authors review the current use of gaming within curricula and analyze the content of game development degree programs. Finally, the authors describe plans at their institution to incorporate gaming throughout the computing curriculum and present initial results.

Utilizing authentic, real-world projects in information technology education

Computer science courses have utilized real-world, customer-driven projects with mixed success for years. There is a large body of anecdotal and empirical evidence to support the idea that students learn via authentic customer interactions in database, software engineering, and other computer science courses. This paper demonstrates that such real-world projects are also applicable to Information Technology classes. By allowing students to apply the theoretical principles learned in prerequisite courses, they are able to solidify and deepen their knowledge of project management, customer relations management, requirements elicitation and management, software development, human-computer interaction (specifically interface design), database technology, communication skills, testing, debugging, and system design. Results from over 50 projects involving over 300 students and spanning seven years of courses are presented and analyzed; these projects range from traditional Windows projects to dynamic, data-driven Webs and cutting-edge projects involving PDA and TabletPC applications. The author was involved in Computer Science Software Engineering and programming courses and then transitioned into the field of Information Technology Education; consequently, the results span the domains of CS and IT education and present a convincing argument that group-based, authentic projects that involve developing solutions for real-world customers benefit Information Technology courses and students. Issues such as appropriate project scope, suggested milestones, reasonable project structure, and how to assign students to teams are discussed. A lightweight process is also provided to assist the reader in applying the recommendations with minimal effort.

An International Study on Learning and Process Choices in the Global Game Jam.

This paper reports the results of an online survey done by Global Game Jam (GGJ) participants in January 2012. This is an expansion of an earlier survey of a local game jam event and seeks to validate and extend previous studies. The objectives of this survey were collecting demographic information about the GGJ participants, understanding their motivations, studying the effectiveness of GGJ as a learning and community-building experience, and understanding the process used by GGJ participants to make a computer game in extremely limited time. The survey was done in two phases: pre-jam and post-jam. Collectively, the information in this survey can be used to (1) plan different learning experiences, (2) revise the development process for professional and academic projects, and (3) provide additional elements to game jams or change their structures based on the participants’ comments to make them more fruitful. An International Study on Learning and Process Choices in the Global Game Jam

Continuous program improvement: a project to automate record-keeping for accreditation

Preparing for an accreditation visit is generally viewed as a huge ask. The new accreditation guidelines for Information Technology (IT) suggest that accreditation should not be viewed as a discrete event. With an emphasis on outcomes, assessment, and continuous improvement, the guidelines seek to encourage IT departments to look at accreditation as a continuous process; an iteration of data collection, analysis, and change. To that end, the IT Department at Clayton State University has developed a prototype system that maps the departments outcomes and course objectives to ABET-CACs outcomes for IT. Student assignments are mapped to course objectives and program outcomes. Students submit their work for assessment via the web. Assessment metadata is extracted and used to revise individual courses and the program as a whole. To develop this system, students in database, ecommerce, programming, and quality assurance courses teamed with faculty to design and implement a prototype. The initial design was described in an earlier paper. Here, the development process and the prototype are described and a SQL script is provided so that other IT departments can create their own systems, benefiting from the work completed.

Teaching 2D arrays using real-time video filters

Educators have long been trying to spice things up in their introductory programming courses. Traditionally, two-dimensional arrays have been taught non-graphically using contrived examples and the command-line - which is often not motivating to students. We believe (as does supporting literature) that the inherently visual nature of a more media-oriented approach to teaching arrays, such as teaching using Image Processing, is more effective and more engaging for students. This teaching style can be extended to include real-time video filters, opening up a unique set of time-sensitive algorithms and making the traditional image processing transformations highly interactive.

Improving student success through personalization and customization

Personalizing and customizing competency-based material to students has the promise of greatly improving student success. In this paper, we present some of the initial work we have done to creating a competency-based program in computing, and some of the issues we have identified in doing so, along with some proposed solutions.

New educational learning environments: riding the wave of change instead of having it crash upon us

The environment of higher education is changing; we have new challenges and opportunities created by social media, streaming technology, access to learning materials, and pathways of acquiring and assessing knowledge and skills. This panel discusses forces of change and disruption to existing models of higher education and suggests means by which IT departments can leverage these changes. Each panel participant addresses a specific area, including technology-mediated learning, learning management systems, learning object repositories, ensuring quality control and accreditation, and how to successfully administer and manage these suggested changes.

Tutorial 3: AR mobile game development: Getting started

This tutorial is a half-day project based tutorial to demonstrate how to create an AR mobile game prototype from game design to art, animation and technical production. Tools such as Unity, Maya and Vuforia will be used in this tutorial. Standard game development topics which can be applied to all digital game projects such as the game design process, pre-production planning, 3D modeling, rigging and animation techniques, game engine workflow as well as the unique elements of AR mobile game development will be covered in this tutorial.

Student game design exposition

The student game exposition is open to all students to submit digital game designs and working games. Entries will be reviewed on Saturday, March 26 by panel. Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place entries. The top 50% of reviewed entries will be listed in the final conference proceedings, listing the name of the game project, abstract, and the authors/designers. Entries will be judged by games/media faculty and media industry professionals.