tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30766504.post5556929094220824274..comments2024-01-15T03:36:11.777-05:00Comments on Teaching Game Design: Teaching Iteration and Risk-TakingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30766504.post-515321201343121042014-04-06T19:26:39.381-04:002014-04-06T19:26:39.381-04:00I don't disagree with the risk taking and fail...I don't disagree with the risk taking and failure part of your theory, but I am not sure about the rest. The fatal flaw in it is that, in the end, you still have to end up with something polished, which introduces anxiety that is self-defeating to what you are trying to teach. <br /><br />Perhaps a better method would be to have them create an initial prototype, and then spend the rest of the course making incremental improvements/iterations and fixing things. The grade, instead of being focused on the polished finished project, could be on documentation of the iterations and play tests results. That way, you are not grading the product, but the process itself. One of the criteria of the process can be "Displays a willingness to take risks and tests them for feasibility." <br /><br />At each phase, you can have them explain what risks they took, whether or not they were successful, how they were tested, what the results were, how they were improved and/or scrapped and why.<br /><br />There are a couple of great things here. First, you are blatantly telling them to take risks, and not punishing them for doing so. Second, you are forcing their participation through the journalling. Third, you are making it ok to fail, provided that they LEARN FROM THEIR FAILURE. Ultimately, risk aversion comes from a fear of failure, and fear of failure is taught from a young age through a grade based education system designed to weed out independent thought. If you don't break that cycle you won't change their habits. Their habits are the result of years of indoctrination.RAVaughthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02938378806162960475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30766504.post-21922691400983576512009-03-02T11:55:00.000-05:002009-03-02T11:55:00.000-05:00Mauricio beat me to it, but I definitely agree. If...Mauricio beat me to it, but I definitely agree. If time allows, perhaps the students are assigned to create three different prototypes, one per week. After feedback on each from the rest of the class, they decide which one to run with.Nels Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06484436433023780229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30766504.post-2950583282026998102009-03-02T08:06:00.000-05:002009-03-02T08:06:00.000-05:00Other thing I do: encourage students to bring more...Other thing I do: encourage students to bring more than one idea for their project on week 1(making one simple concept doc for each one).<BR/><BR/>Then they can make a verbal presentation of these ideas to the rest of the class next week, having a fast feedback of the reception of the ideas (so they can try wild things). <BR/><BR/>After that each student must choose just one idea (or a mix) do keep going, making proposal and design documents, then releasing progressives milestones till the finished game.Mauriciohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05530844787763640535noreply@blogger.com