Can you teach someone to be a video game designer? This was the principal question behind the experimental class "Game Design & Testing" taught summer 2009 and again in 2010 at East Tennessee State University. The class did not attempt to encompass the technical aspects of video game modeling or scripting. It was focused on the possibilities of teaching students how to recognize, create and critique distinct game elements, then design interesting games around the concepts they learned. What makes a game fun, what makes some games memorable, what does it take to create balance in a game, what goes into making a game that is easy to learn and difficult to master, these were some of the questions set to the students throughout the semester?

THE THESIS STUDY AIMS TO UNDERSTAND AND INVESTIGATE THE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PROCESS BY UTILIZING THE CHARACTERISTICS AND TYPES OF ANOTHER FIELD, GAME. THE STEPS TAKEN IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THIS AIM ARE &#039 / ANALYZING GAME, ITS PROPERTIES, AND TYPES&#039 / , &#039 / RE-READING AND UNDERSTANDING ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PROCESS BY INVESTIGATING THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES WITH GAME TYPES IN ORDER TO END UP WITH INFORMATIVE, UNDERSTANDABLE TABULAR RESULTS&#039 / , RESPECTIVELY.

The purpose of this paper was to review research within the field of digital games and language learning to explore whether gaming can facilitate communicative competence and foster motivation for language learning. To answer my questions I conducted a research synthesis, compiling a variety of research over the last decade to answer my questions as effectively as possible. Results showed that digital games do in fact facilitate language development and induce motivation. Research also showed that different games provide different opportunities and activities, resulting in some games fostering language competence more than others. For instance, World of Warcraft provided social situations where conversations were erratic, spontaneous, contextual and driven by small events in the game, while The Sims focused more on strategic and creative activities. Additionally, research suggested that digital games motivated learners to develop their L2 language in hope of achieving more goals together within a variety games and game types.

The thesis discusses didactic game applied in kindergartens and primary schools in the context of current educational system. The author's objective was to determine differences between employing didactic play in kindergartens and primary schools. Another objective was to verify whether teachers recognise didactic game as an adequate educational method and to ascertain whether didactic game fulfils its activation function in primary schools. Observation and interviewing were used as appropriate methods to conduct the research and collect the data. More specifically the author conducted observations in the pre-school kindergarten classes and the first three grades of primary schools, interviews with kindergarten and primary school teachers, and comparisons between classes where didactic game was used and where it was not. The following conclusions were made: the main difference in applying didactic game in a kindergarten and primary school is the teacher's approach to the assignment of the didactic game and subsequently the children's or pupils' perception. Kindergarten teachers consider didactic game to be a fundamental educational method, whereas in primary schools it is of similar importance as other methods. Based on comparison of two differently held classes, more significant activation effect...