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Game Design Certificate Program

by Sivasailam Thiagarajan

This certificate program provides an opportunity for NASAGA conference participants to gain professional credibility in the area of design of training games, simulations, and activities for education and training. Previous participants reported real value in working and learning with experienced game designers to focus their conference experience on the specific skills they wanted to build during the conference.

There are three parts to this certificate program:

A pre-conference workshop on the design of games and simulations

At this workshop, participants will explore basic concepts related to the design of educational and training activities. They will have hands-on experience in the design and development of simulations, games, and other learning activities. At the end of the workshop, each person will identify a specific design project to guide and focus their work for the rest of the conference.

Five selected sessions

During the rest of the conference, participants will attend at least five sessions  in the conference program to acquire experiences/techniques to more effectively complete their design project.

There will also be opportunities to meet with others in the program as well as session presenters throughout the conference to share daily insights.

Presentation of design plan

During the last day of the conference, participants will present their projects and plans in a wrap-up session.

Workshop Goal

To design training games and activities by using field-tested approaches to produce high levels of instructional motivational effectiveness.

Workshop Objectives

Participants will be able to:

1. Define training games and activities, specify their advantages and limitations in corporate training and education, and differentiate among simulation and non-simulation games.
2. Briefly explore and experience different “frames” (templates) for designing non-simulation games (such as board games, card games, double exposure, improv games, instructional puzzles, interactive lectures, item processing, matrix games, structured sharing, and textra games) and different types of simulation games (such as action learning, structured fieldtrips, reflective teamwork activities, the case method, culture assimilators, cross-cultural dialogues, production simulations, interactive storytelling, role playing, cash games, and jolts).
3. Select the most appropriate frame (or type) of activity to suit your specific learning objectives and participant characteristics.
4. Prepare a plan for the design, development, evaluation, and revision of the selected type of activity during the conference.
5. Present your plan and receive critique and suggestions in a final conference session.

Materials

Each certificate participant will receive a Game Design Manual that contains examples of different types of interactive learning strategies along with guidelines for their design.

For more information on the Certificates Program, please email Brian Remer.

For more information on NASAGA 2007, please call 404-966-2372 or email Deborah Thomas.