Texas Tech University: History of Higher Education in the United States - The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game - page 211

Case History 6

Texas Tech University:
History of Higher
Education in the United
States

Stacy A. Jacob

Assistant Professor of Higher Education

College of Education

Texas Tech University

This case history makes it clear that you do not have to be a professional game
designer to design a class as a game. Here all the teacher needed was to be
surrounded by gamers, which is not hard these days. Highlights for me in this
article included allowing students to award achievements to other students, and
the use of students

'

avatars as a visual representation of their progress. In video

games, we call this “ equipping � our avatars.

EQUIP

In video games, players provide their avatars with the best armor and weapons they can find. Not
only do the stats associated with the gear make them more powerful, but it is also visible to other
players, making it a great way to show off a player

' s achievements either due to the high cost or

scarcity of the gear.

' '

Let s see how Professor Jacob equipped her players avatars (see Figure CH6.1).