Module overview
Building upon the module Professional Contexts, this module features an exciting series of industry speaker events and debates to act as a catalyst to support investigative academic and journalist writing for and about Games. The research and final writing assignments should be directly relevant to your work within the module Major Project GDA.
Within this module you will produce two different pieces of writing inspired by, and in the style of, the MIT Playful Thinking and UAL Spark journal. Your texts will be in the form of an academic journal piece and a summary journalistic piece. The journalistic piece will be the shorter of the two and should engage a wider audience towards concerns and/or commentary on Games Design & Art.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- recognise useful links between contextual data.
- formulate and develop an idea and broadly research its context;
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- identify, select and draw upon a wide range of visual, printed and electronic sources.
- demonstrate organisational skills;
- Demonstrate that you can articulate and communicate in a professional manner appropriate to the chosen topic.
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- ways of communicating an informed and critical understanding of your work in the context of the your study.
- the relevance of key discipline-specific theoretical and contextual themes to your work;
Syllabus
Through a series of discussions students will select one or two areas of focus to write critically about games design in its current context. The syllabus will dynamically represent current concerns and passions of the time.
The assignments will be submitted via turn-it-in. The journalist summary will be considered for inclusion in the Games Design & Art final year publication, to be printed and online. This publication and website will be used to showcase the thinking behind your own design practice or contextual consideration of games in an innovative and informative manner outside of Winchester School of Art.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Teaching methods include:
- lectures;
- seminars.
Learning activities include:
- discussion;
- Essay and Journalism Writing;
- critical reflection connecting theory and practice;
- independent research and reflection;
- industry 1-1 discussions;
- Academic Skills Hub;
- Careers Service.
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Seminar | 16 |
Wider reading or practice | 40 |
Lecture | 8 |
Completion of assessment task | 62 |
Follow-up work | 14 |
Preparation for scheduled sessions | 10 |
Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Internet Resources
GAME.
Panopto Recordings (via Blackboard).
DiGRA (Digital Games Research Association).
Textbooks
Sharp, J. (2015). Works of Game. MIT Press.
Costikyan, G. (2013). Uncertainty in Games. MIT Press.
Isbister, K. (2016). How Games Move Us. MIT Press.
Sicart, M. (2014). Play Matters. MIT Press.
Juul, J. (2013). The Art of Failure. MIT Press.
Assessment
Formative
This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.
Essay proposal
- Assessment Type: Formative
- Feedback: Formative feedback is given during the module.
- Final Assessment: No
- Group Work: No
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Essay | 100% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Essay | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Essay | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External