An ASU professor is attempting to get students excited about technology through computer game development.
Currently, ASU offers an 18-credit certificate program in “Computer Gaming,” which gives students basic skills in the field of computer game development.
Ashish Amresh, an assistant professor of engineering at the College of Technology and Innovation on the Polytechnic campus who founded the certificate program, is looking to expand it to a degree program at the Polytechnic campus as early as fall 2011.
Amresh said that the current offerings at ASU might not be enough to allow students to compete for jobs in the gaming industry as other programs that offer full-fledged degrees in computer gaming.
He said that the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering currently enrolls about 70 students seeking the certificate each year, and has awarded the certificate to the first batch of students — totaling around 25 students — last spring.
Amresh expects this number to stay constant for both this semester and the spring 2011 semester.
The intent of the certificate currently focuses less on job preparation and more on problem solving in different fields other than gaming, such as nursing and business.
“[The certificate] is not preparing students for jobs in game development,” Amresh said. “We are preparing students to use games to solve real world problems.”
Computer science junior Travis Sein said the certificate helped him develop programming skills that have assisted him greatly, helping him get chosen to develop an educational math program for the Singapore Math Curriculum, a company that develops educational products for multiple disciplines.
“Without my involvement in the gaming certificate, I would not be where I am today,” Sein said.
Though the program is only a few years old, starting in spring 2007, it has already been recognized by members of the field. In March, the Princeton Review, in conjunction with GamePro, a magazine dedicated to video game news, named ASU one of the 50 top gaming programs in the country.
“There are now more colleges and universities than ever focusing on game development,” said Marci Yamaguchi Hughes, president of GamePro Media, the parent company of GamePro magazine.
Amresh said there are currently approximately 50 to 60 universities across the nation that offer full-fledged game development degrees.
He said that gaming can be a useful tool to instill an interest in technology at a young age as well, something he uses as director of CampGame, an ASU sponsored summer gaming camp for middle and high school students.
“The idea of the program is to get students excited about technology,” Amresh said. “We just use games because they’re fun.
Amresh added that getting adults, especially teachers, interested in game development as a teaching tool can be useful to expanding the use of games in academic programs.
CampGame offers scholarships for teachers to attend the camp for free in order to encourage teacher involvement.
Reach the reporter at Michael.reppenhagen@asu.edu
