Collaborative Design of Cross-Disciplinary Game Minors Based on the IGDA Curriculum Framework

Due to the recent creation of game degree programs at post-secondary institutions, peer-reviewed literature on the curriculum planning process for game degrees at post-secondary institutions pales in comparison to the literature available for more established fields of computer science. At Bradley University, departments across colleges have worked collaboratively to create two cross-disciplinary game minors. The minors have been carefully crafted to nurture the growth of both media designers and software developers while simultaneously providing experiences for the students to experience multi-disciplinary teamwork. This paper details the creation of these two innovative game minors with emphasis on three aspects of the curriculum planning process: 1) their interdependencies, 2) their structure for supporting both Design and software development students, and 3) their reliance on the International Game Developer Association's curriculum framework. In addition, the author provides a summary of issues and concerns that arose during the curriculum planning process.