Teaching

Statement of Teaching Philosophy

PDF

Game Mod Workshop
College of Computing and Digital Media, DePaul University

I devised the syllabus in this studio course in which students develop skills in game design and production. Students form into mini game studios that build a game mod which must provide one awesome minute of gameplay. The entire development process is covered from brainstorming and prototyping to playtesting and polish. (image to left is from the student team: Air Five Games)

class website: www.gamemodworkshop.com

Principles of Visual Design
School of Literature Communication and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology

I devised the syllabus in this studio course in which students develop skills to conceptualize and design media with clarity of vision and desired effect. Through readings, lectures and in-class discussions students will learn how to be critical of their own work, the work of others and how to analyze interactive and static imagery from various historical and theoretical perspectives.

class website ------- gallery of student work

syllabus has been used as a model for other instructors

Construction of the Moving Image: Animation Concentration
School of Literature Communication and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology

I devised the syllabus for this studio course which combines theories of animation, video and film with practice in these fields. Class material consists of lectures, workshops, readings, projects, and in-class critiques of their such projects. Students learn the affordances, aesthetics and techniques of how to create moving images that are hand drawn, generated computationally in 2D or 3D, and that are layered motion graphics. Software used: Maya, Photoshop, Processing and After Effects.

class website ------- gallery of student work

Introduction to Media Studies
School of Literature Communication and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology

I devised the syllabus in this lecture course in which students develop skills to engage contemporary and historical media through various critical lenses including production practices, support technologies, relationships with culture and politics. Students read canonical texts from the field and employ them in their own analysis of media artifacts in essay form, in-class discussions, and oral reports. The goal for students is to gain agency over our contemporary mediascape, and be able to think about, debate and critique media artifacts and events with a versatile and rich theoretical toolset.

class website

Building Virtual Worlds
Entertainment Technology Center, Carnegie Mellon University

I was assistant teacher for a graduate studio course taught by Randy Pausch for one year. Students worked in interdisciplinary teams of four and every two weeks produced an interactive virtual world using a head-mounted display and makeshift input devices. I guided students in the conceptualization, design, and creation of their projects.

Videos of student work:

more examples of my students' work from '04

InTEL: Interactive Toolkit for Engineering Learning
School of Literature Communication and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology

I was the "experience designer" and artist for this project headed by Janet Murray funded by the NSF. The aim of the project is to foster interest in the subject of Statics by women and under-represented minorities. InTEL is a computer-based manipulatible environment that supports teaching and learning in Statics by mapping images from relevant and engaging real-world environments to abstract diagrams for 2D and 3D equilibrium problems.

Interface design
explanatory NSF Poster: JPEG, PDF

Korea Game Academy
Entertainment Technology Center, Carnegie Mellon University

I was co-instructor of a cross-cultural exchange program involving Korean game industry professionals (designers and artists of Lineage, etc.). I guided participants in the creation of interactive virtual worlds using head-mounted displays, and experimental interfaces. This academy is a professional "boot camp" based on Building Virtual Worlds (see above entry).

Full-Immersion English
The International School, Beth's School

I spent three years traveling through Asia and loved it. I taught English in Taiwan halfway through the trip to recharge my funds. In the evening I taught advanced conversation and business discourse to adult professionals. Every morning I taught (more like, performed) for 2-4 year-olds. Improvising classes using a supply of props and toys, I invented games to involve the students with the material. These teaching experiences were formative to my philosophy and approach which has been developed further at Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, and DePaul.