It was announced the other day that I was one of the winners of the Schreyer Institute New Faculty Teaching Grant. This grant affords faculty the opportunity to purchase materials that can enhance their teaching at Penn State. The Schreyer Institute affords new faculty the opportunity to be involved in the “New Faculty Colleagues Group,” which helps us inform and enrich our teaching through workshops and discussions. I will be using the grant to purchase games and maker materials for my classes: Designing and Researching Games and Online Communities for Learning, and The Maker Movement in Education.
I’ve already purchased board games that help my students further understand game mechanics and how they match with learning goals. I have also utilized maker materials in my game design for learning class, to help students deconstruct and design interfaces and controllers in ways that can extend learning. This grant will help further the resources available to students in my classes and in the Learning, Design and Technology program in general. News about this is featured here.