University students in Guelph, Ontario will be showcasing their original games based on math and science:
University of Guelph engineering students have designed games for children and teenagers aimed at making math and science fun.
Area students will be able to test out 65 new games at the Guelph Civic Museum Oct. 18-29 [2010]. More than 300 students from Guelph elementary and high schools have signed up to visit the game displays. Members of the public are welcome to drop in, particularly Oct. 23 and 24.
The game design project is part of a first-year engineering design course on campus.
“This is the first year we have done this, and I am very impressed with the games that have been designed,” said engineering professor Khosrow Farahbakhsh, who teaches the course along with engineering professor David Lubitz. “The students all came up with original ideas.”
The only rule: no videogames. Most are board games, card games or another hands-on activity. Math and science components match curriculum levels between Grades 1 and 10.
“We chose children’s games because designing games is a sophisticated process that incorporates all aspects of design from sketching the design and building the toy to writing the game instructions and creating the box the toy comes in,” said Farahbakhsh. “Plus, games are something that all the students are familiar with.”