Professional Preparation
Researchers as Knowledge Brokers between Higher Education and the Game Development Industry: Introducing Game Development Praxiology for Cooperation, Conceptualization, Translation, and Research View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jean Pierre Flayeux, Danny Godin, Guillaume Roux Girard, Sébastien Savard, Jean-Philippe Boisvert
As video games are becoming a staple of the global entertainment industry, game studies and game design are increasingly popular research disciplines in higher education. Sadly, these academic fields tend to grow in a vacuum within universities. Similarly, research and development within the industry create game-related innovations known only to professionals. This gap can hinder synergy between the contexts, leading to a reduction of knowledge development as well as a misalignment of goals, priorities, and expectations on both sides. This 27-week-long multi-partner project aims at (1) contextualizing and translating theoretical findings into design tools and methodologies as well as (2) developing knowledge transfer strategies positioning researchers as brokers between the academic and professional contexts. It uses a custom approach we called ‘game development praxiology’ that articulates praxiography with research through design approaches and combines concepts from game studies, design theory, rhetoric, and innovation sociology into a comprehensive and targeted theoretical framework. The research aims to (1) establish an innovative way to set up a knowledge transfer pipeline between the local game industry and a university, (2) validate a comprehensive set of guidelines and concepts for both high-level and low-level design, project management and resource planning, (3) explore a reliable workflow for translating game studies theories into design tools and (4) layout a potential starting point for further methodological studies for different professional fields.
Professional Practice for Graphic Design and Portfolio Capstone: A Tale of Two Courses
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nicole L. Arnell
This study offers a description of the development of and requirements for both Professional Practice and Portfolio Capstone classes that prepare senior-level undergraduate design students for the transition from academia to a successful career. These courses are taught by the presenter. Many colleges insist on stuffing all elements taught in these courses into one semester-long course, but this is impossible to do at the level explained in this presentation. The Professional Practice coursework begins with a logo. The brand is developed from positioning and tone to full visual identity. All elements evolve from this, including cover letters and resumés, website, business forms, a social media presence and plan, and a full brand book. Ensuring students understand how to apply these materials for a successful career, a business plan is developed that displays comprehension of legal aspects and taxes in relation to the cost of living. This ties into the comprehensive Job Hunt Journal developed throughout the semester. The cover letters are written to creative directors and then tie into the networking and interviewing skills taught in the course. An overview of the Portfolio Capstone course is provided, including why it is impossible to develop a professional-level portfolio (vs. a collection of student work) in addition to the demands of the Professional Practice class. Other work produced from this course includes captions and talking points, a leave-behind, and even how (and why) to write a press release.
Design Solutions and the Real World: A Case-study of International Collaboration, Entrepreneurship, and Problem-Based Learning in Higher Education
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Richard Lachman
Design Solutions is a collaborative design thinking course in which teams of students partner with external organizations to solve real-world challenges. Students are drawn from across the university as well as international partners, forming project-teams, and working through a design-thinking process with mentorship in group dynamics, team-building, and prototyping, with additional discipline-specific guidance from partner organizations. Challenges are drawn from industry, non-profits, the arts-and-culture sector, and government. The course integrates with the university’s network of incubators and includes optional pathways for the continued development of prototypes beyond the confines of the course. Outcomes have included student-led startups, job-offers, internships, conference presentations, and collaborative artworks. This case study explores pitfalls, lessons, mistakes, and revisions over nine iterations of the course.
