Making Community Engaged Games (Fall 2021)

The students in this immersive learning experience were enrolled in CS215: Introduction to Game Design. This course provides a practical introduction to game design using a systems thinking approach, emphasizing the iterative and creative processes used to create engaging games. The first half of the semester was spent exploring fundamental theories of game design, including an introduction to educational game design. The students devoted their second half of the semester to iterative development of an original game based on the core stories of Minnetrista. George Buss, Jr, Vice President of Visitor Experience at Minnetrista, made several visits to the class to talk about Minnetrista's role in the community and give students feedback on their design ideas. Contained in this showcase are near-final drafts of many students' final projects, all of which are print-and-play games. That means you can download the files, print them up, and try the games for yourself! The authors' contact information should be provided in each packet in case you would like to send them feedback on their designs. Note that the students' projects will be finalized after the deadline for submission to this online showcase, and so the versions submitted to Minnetrista may vary slightly from what is available here. The games created by this semester's students will provide the input into next semester's continuation of this immersive project. The Spring team will work with Minnetrista and their faculty mentor to choose the designs most amenable to digital production, and then we will work together to produce an original video game based on these designs

Computer Science for Muncie (and Surrounding) Schools (CS4MS+) - Fall 2021

Partnering with local schools, the Computer Science for Muncie (and Surrounding) Schools (CS4MS+) project team researched, developed, curated, and delivered instructional resources which incorporate Computer Science (CS) into educational offerings, with a focus on the Indiana CS academic standards, and worked to advance teachers’ understanding of CS and/or interacted with their students as a teaching assistant. Although CS student focused, an interdisciplinary project team was sought, with another project focus being to expose underrepresented minorities and females to CS. When Indiana introduced CS into their academic standards, CS4MS+ was created to support local teachers in this endeavor. To learn more, please use the links provided to the right to navigate through the exhibit