As a result of this course, students expressed
a greater understanding of how complex and
interconnected systems work in games, developing
their abilities to apply programmable
concepts as a form of visual self-expression.
From the student interviews, the unit operations
of MARC also provided a tactical framework for
students to understand and connect interdependent
systems within games and daily life.
Performing at an introductory level, the MARC
concept was intended to support students in
game making, allowing them to become creative
producers of programmable digital media
while providing a method to critically investigate
game production. From this research, there
is valued evidence that art educators should
learn how to critique and make video games as a
way to develop an understanding of the associations
between objects and ideas, and how game
interactions can be traced to reveal and critique
complex relationships and systems within artistic
and other life processes.
As forms of digital communication swiftly
change, new opportunities for creative expression,
exhibition, and critique appear in our contemporary
culture. The addition of the media
arts standards (National Coalition for Core Arts
Standards, 2012) and the video game creation
category in the Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards
(Scholastic, 2010) show how the range of opportunities
for K-12 art curriculum has expanded.
Observing these cultural cues, we art educators
should actively engage and respond to
these changes. I propose the time is right for art
educators to embrace making programmable
media such as video games across the K-12 art
curriculum.