Pre-Service Art Educators Learning from Digital Game Design

Abstract

This paper discusses the complications and complexities of teaching game design within the context of a pre-service art education course. It explores how drawing connections between game design, artmaking, and art education can help both pre-service educators, and their eventual students, meaningfully engage with this new medium. This study is the first in the field of art education to look at practical issues regarding teaching digital game design in P-12 settings with pre-service art educators. It is also designed to address social, economic, and cultural issues as related to game design and play. As such, it is important to begin to share this research with others in the field who are interested in the art educational possibilities for digital game design, as well as with those who may be skeptical of such claims.