University of Arizona

The Bachelor of Science in Game Design and Development will provide undergraduate students with the design and development skills necessary to create virtual interactive environments that span across devices and platforms.This game program would include games for entertainment but also serious games and virtual reality simulations for training, education, healthcare and other purposes.The degree will provide students with the real-world skills and experience needed for successful game design and development; and will signal to employers that students have dedicated the time and energy necessary to build fluency with the underlying concepts and tools. The degree will cover all aspects of game design and development.This would include conceptualization, market analysis, technical design, and usability studies.The degree program will serve a diverse student population, training learners in artistic, technical and business aspects of games.The degree will require students to complete a set of core courses, yet also allow students to choose among a large set of electives in order to focus on their preferred areas of study (e.g., intensive programming, creative computing, and entrepreneurial aspects of game development). Students will apply the key theories and best practices they learned to practical game projects and refine their skills. Students will have multiple opportunities to produce finished games, both individually and team-based.The degree is intended for students who aspire to hold careers in the digital games industry.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Students will demonstrate facility using basic research methods, for example: research design, statistic and analysis; organization, identification, and location of data and information including open-and closed access sources; and/or presentation of findings in oral, written and multi-media form, including proper use of and citation of sources.
• Students will acquire the skills, knowledge and self-understanding to communicate with and effectively work and interact across cultures and with diverse people and groups.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of career and further education options and opportunities open to them relative to their plan of study and will set goals and make plans beyond their expected graduation.
• Students will be able to recognize and analyses ethical and policy concerns raised by new technologies and will be able to apply ethical thinking to real world cases and craft effective solutions.
• Students will be able to identify and apply professional ethics and standards relevant to their career to aspirations.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of users¿ needs and rights, such as identifying target user groups for games, PR tools and platforms, analytics and metric tools, play testing and evaluation, monetization, models, information, protection, game related permissions on different ethical competence, professional ethics, quality steering, assurance, monitoring and social media utilization
• Students will demonstrate the ability to design a game for various purposes, such as education, health and well-being, training and entertainment by incorporating best-practices related to gamification in all stages including challenges and fun factor, balancing, level design, scoring and progression, user interface, interaction mechanics, narration, functionality, usability and playability.
• Students will exhibit understanding of and skills related to varied approaches, tools, systems, platforms, devices, processes and their effective utilization for game development that are well established and currently used in the games industry.