Get to Know Christienne L. Hinz and Why You Need to Take Her New Course
Gen Con has partnered with Central Michigan University’s Center for Learning through Games and Simulations for another exciting, online course: “Classroom Game Design? Yes, You Can!” by Dr. Christienne L. Hinz.
Are you a committed tabletop/role-playing gamer and a K – 16 educator, corporate trainer, or instructional designer who is curious about the similarities and differences between hobby game design and educational game design?
Are you a K – 16 educator, corporate trainer, or instructional designer who uses or wishes to use game-based learning in your classroom, but can’t find or adapt a hobby game that fits your subject matter, classroom constraints, or desired learning outcomes?
Are you a hobby game designer interested in learning how to design games for classroom applications, but don’t know where to begin?
Greetings! I am Dr. Christienne L. Hinz, Professor Emerita of History at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. My expertise, besides the history of modern Japan and World History, is in pedagogies of game-based and gamified learning in university classrooms, a subject I have been researching for a decade, using my self-designed, fully game-based, and gamified course, Gaming World History (to learn more about Gaming World History, listen to my interview on the Beyond Solitaire podcast from a few years ago).
Hobby games and classroom games are not the same beast. Though hobby games can be effectively adapted to educational applications, educator-designed games are arguably the most effective means of maximizing desired learning outcomes in game-based learning classrooms. This is because they can be precisely tooled to subject matter, to classroom constraints, and to desired learning outcomes.
Classroom Game Design? Yes, You Can! will take you on a six-week deep dive into the differences between hobby game design and classroom game design. Participants will develop game concepts specific to their areas of expertise. We will examine ways of designing not just effectively but efficiently, using design jams to turn mere “ideas” into actual mechanics. By the end of the course, you will have designed the chassis for an educational game tooled to your classroom needs.
I hope you’ll join me in March for this exciting course, which starts on Monday, March 4, 2024, and ends on Wednesday, April 10 (with sign up through March 3). The course runs on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00-8:00 pm (ET).
For more information on CMU’s Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations please visit their website.