Aalto University Summer School
Aalto University Summer School offers high-quality academic summer courses and programs at Aalto University during the winter and the summer.
Summer School Alum Story: Teaching innovations through the approach of game design
This August, Héctor Merino travelled to Finland from Almassora, Spain in order to take part in the Game Design course at Aalto University Summer School.
As a telecommunications engineer and professor of sound and image engineering at IES Vila-roja Vocational Training Institute, Hector joined the Game Design course to find inspiration for using games as tools to enhance his students’ engagement in learning.
‘I have always played board games and some video games too, but I had two main goals when coming to this course: First, to look for new strategies and new kinds of methodologies to apply with my students. My second goal was to learn how to make games with my own course contents, since nowadays, I find it quite difficult to teach students with more traditional tools.’
Key takeaways from the course: digital tools and hands-on experience
The Game Design course equips students not only with the ability to transform ideas into prototypes but also to discover the art and craft of game design from the traditional to the contemporary. With a hands-on approach and guidance adapted to each student’s particular interests and goals, Héctor learned not only from the course instructor but also from his coursemates.
'How the course was carried out here has been a new experience for me. Everyone has participated very actively and we’ve all been motivated to complete our final projects. I’ve also learned a lot from others in the course by hearing their perspectives and ideas, which are different from my own.' says Héctor.
The Finnish approach to studying at Aalto University
In addition to collaborating with coursemates from many different ages and a range of nationalities, the warm and open atmosphere of the Finnish approach to studying and university life could be felt across the different facilities throughout campus.
‘One of the first things I noticed about Aalto is the way that people interact with each other within the university. I could see that people have a lot of freedom, and respect each other's individual ways of doing things. This seems to be present all over Finnish society, and students are given the freedom to explore the tools they need to learn in ways that work best for them’, Héctor concludes.
Games and gaming as tools for learning
Creativity and the art of play are essential parts of a balanced lifestyle and lifelong learning. With Finland’s reputation for innovation in education, and with several notable Finnish companies in the international gaming industry, this two-week course at Aalto University Summer School was an excellent opportunity for Héctor to put his ideas into practice.
“One important part of Game Design is to work with people’s creativity, but I’m also a bit worried about today’s students as they get bored quite easily nowadays. Life is fast-paced, everything moves very quickly, and we are dealing with a lot of input, stimuli and sound all the time. That’s why I’d like to transform my teaching methodologies into games so I can meet people on their own level and inspire their motivation.”
Héctor Merino, student of the Game Design summer course 2024Students are given the freedom to explore the tools they need to learn in ways that work best for them.
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