David James
dwjames.bsky.social
David James
@dwjames.bsky.social
National Teaching Fellow | Course Director for Games Design
Thanks all for the wonderful contributions. Great to read about similar approaches across so many disciplines. And some really inspiring ideas shared, too. Much appreciated! Have a great rest of your evening :)
October 15, 2025 at 8:02 PM
I love the idea of that and think that would have great value for my level 5 and 6 students, as I grow more familiar with their profiles. I could perhaps hold back on this approach at level 4, and instead use that year to identify who would be a good fit for which role at the later levels?
October 15, 2025 at 7:57 PM
We run some large, cross-discipline modules aimed at mimicking real-world game studio development. It's an invaluable experience, but yeah - you absolutely have my sympathy. I'd jump at the chance to know more about what these compellingly immersive experiences look like in your discipline!
October 15, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Absolutely true. Games design suffers the same limitations as every other discipline - deadlines for a product to ship being a key one. Yet, they are a truly creative discipline, and I'd hate for a games designer to ever lose that wide-eyed optimism of "but what if we just add this...." :)
October 15, 2025 at 7:46 PM
I love the idea of a gameified debate! I'd also be interested to know of any free online games you have used or have considered using!
October 15, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Absolutely agree. When teaching my students with game frameworks, they are tasked with documenting their progress each and every week via an indiviual blog. This blog might contain a post simply explaining how something they tried didn't work - but over time, we get the narrative of the process
October 15, 2025 at 7:42 PM
That sounds like a great balance. Individual time to learn and develop their skills, but then also the opportunities to share and demonstrate their progress with/to others via a team setting would be incredibly valuable for my games students.
October 15, 2025 at 7:39 PM
That's a great point. I tend to have students develop their projects over the course of many weeks, and try to ensure we introduce new gameplay ideas each week, to add new twists to the game - but I also love the idea of rapid prototyping of multiple game types (this is something my colleague uses).
October 15, 2025 at 7:28 PM
That's a great idea. Whilst we implement formal Student Demonstrators (a paid, applied for position for students) at my institution, I do love the idea of something less formal, but where the more skilled students can be encouraged to mentor others within the class.
October 15, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Great to read this. I've found stretch goals are an instrumental part of framework usage, to give more able learners room to flex. I've also found it valuable to include as many examples from the teaching team of work they have completed using the techniques being taught ("cognitive apprenticeship")
October 15, 2025 at 7:25 PM
I love these - I've used a number of these approaches over the year, but I'd never seen them so nicely presented. Thank you for sharing!
October 15, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Absolutely, working within a framework is often essential in games design. Have you found ways of overcoming that indoctrination, perhaps in students' later levels?
October 15, 2025 at 7:19 PM
I remember using Authorware back in the day! Frameworks in games design have some similarities. They're a bit like partly written stories, in which students fill in the gaps (only with their own games design ideas, worlds, gameplay etc).
October 15, 2025 at 7:16 PM
It's a pleasure to be involved, thanks for having me!
October 15, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Hello! Hope you're having a great Wednesday evening! (I forgot which day of the week it was for a second!) :)
October 15, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Thank you! Yes, would be thrilled to be a guest :) please fire any details!
September 2, 2025 at 8:04 AM