Design and Development of Digital Games (TEDG)
The M.A. program in Design and Development of Digital Games is a 32-33 point program that prepares students to design, develop, implement and evaluate digital games and closely related technologies (such as mobile apps, interactive media, virtual and augmented reality) for learning and social impact in both formal and informal educational settings. This program is unique in that the curriculum is structured to examine game design from a combination of social, cultural, cognitive, and affective perspectives. Students who are studying the design and development of games for education as a concentration need the degree to reflect this area of study, which is not only optimal but necessary for their intended goals.
Games and closely related technologies are increasingly important for learning and for professional education and training in schools, medicine, business, entertainment, and other domains. Rapid changes in these technologies are reshaping the ways we create, evaluate, reflect, reason, and learn. The interdisciplinary nature of game design has led to more creative approaches in teaching and learning in both informal learning contexts (such as museums and homes) and formal learning contexts (classrooms, schools, and workplaces).
The skills involved in designing, developing and studying games are relevant to a wide variety of careers, for instance: instructional design, coding, web and app development, project management, user experience (UX) design, illustration, and 3D modeling, and so on. Whether you wish to pursue a career specifically in games (commercial or educational game design) or want to use games as a means to other endeavors, this program is an exciting and modern platform for your career journey.
Courses in the M.A. degree program provide a solid foundation in both theoretical and practical aspects to the design of educational technology (of which games are a part), which are very relevant to the design of games that target learning—what are often called educational games. Similarly, the development of educational (or other) games depends upon the ability to program such games, or, at very least, to have enough programming knowledge to be able to communicate appropriately with programmers who will develop games based on design specifications.
Therefore, courses on game development, for example, complement the required programming course sequences that teach programming skills that can be applied to games.
Minimum Point Requirement
A minimum of 32 points of coursework is required for completion of the degree. Course credits from previous, non-Teachers College work cannot be transferred in to count toward the 32 points required for the M.A. degree.
Required Core Courses (10 points)
Requirements in the Major Area (15 points)
Elective Courses (1-3 points)
1-3 points of additional MSTU courses.
Breadth Requirement: (6-9 points)
All students must complete a minimum of 6 points at Teachers College outside of the Communication, Media and Learning Technologies Design Program (that is, courses with a prefix other than MSTU).
Integrative M.A. Project
Candidates for the M.A. degree are expected to culminate their work with an integrative project. Projects vary but share the common following features:
Some examples include:
Specifics of the integrative project are determined through discussions with the students' advisors.
For students completing only the M.A. degree, this project should be related to their career goals and should provide tangible evidence of their skills and strengths.