General provisions

The course is part of the Bachelor's programmes Game Design and Graphics, 180 Credits, Game Design and Programming, 180 Credits, Game Design and Project Leadership, 180 Credits and Game Design, 180 Credits.

Entry requirements

60 credits in game design with progressive specialisation

Learning outcomes

Upon completing the course, students will be able to:

• Formulate a research question for academic work that is suitable, adequate, and that can be answered in the given time frame.
• Find relevant topics that connect to ongoing scientific research.
• Present their research to the public in an understandable and instructive manner.
• Discuss and take a critical attitude towards the used theories and methods:
• Discuss ethical challenges in a reflective manner.
• Collect and analyse relevant data.
• Present a realistic plan of making a contribution to games research.

Content

During the course students will learn to identify relevant research subjects within games research, search for academic literature, and work with academic theories. The course introduces students to the philosophy of science and basic epistemological questions. The course also covers different forms of data collection, including qualitative and quantitative data analysis, both from a practical perspective and in relation to which research questions can be answered using the data. The also covers ethical questions for research, and deepens the students' understanding of academic writing.

Instruction

The course consists of lectures, seminars, workshops, and an examination in form of thesis proposal. The lectures are optional, but students are highly recommended to attend them and to actively participate by raising questions and making comments.

Assessment

Students are graded on three seminars, where each seminar evaluates an iteration of the students work on a synopsis for a degree project.

In the first seminar, students present a theoretical framework for a study that aims to solve a scientific problem and get feedback from the teachers. In the second seminar, students propose a synopsis (containing a research question, theoretical framework, method and how they will access the needed data) in the form of a poster presentation. In the third seminar students will present their final synopsis in the format of a conference presentation.

Grading is done based on the students' performance in the seminar series. Module 1 and 2 renders 1 credit each, and module 3 renders 5.5 credits. The final grade of the course is decided by the grade of the final seminar.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.

Uppsala University does not accept cheating or plagiarism. Suspected incidents of cheating or plagiarism are reported to the Vice-Chancellor, which may issue a formal warning to the student or suspend the student from studies for a certain period.

Other directives

The course substitutes/overlaps the course Theory and Methods in Game Design (5SD057)