fAcuLty fOcus
campusreview.com.au
Mind
games
new degree program aims to prepare
students for work by exploring the activities
humans embrace when at play.
By Patrick Avenell
P
rofessor Peter van Onselen’s question was so simple, it was
only one word long: “Seriously?” he tweeted.
The University of Western Australia politics professor,
federal Senate expert, columnist for The Australian, Sky News
presenter and prolific tweeter of generally high-quality titbits was
promulgating the University of the Sunshine Coast’s ‘help wanted’
ad to his nigh-on 44,000 followers. The job that’s going at the
nouveau campus 100 kilometres north of Brisbane? Lecturer/senior
lecturer in serious games. Seriously? Quite so.
“The faculty of arts, business and law is seeking to appoint an
enthusiastic and appropriately qualified individual for the full-time
ongoing position of lecturer/senior lecturer in serious games,” the
ad read.
So what does it take to earn up to $126,428 a year
lecturing in serious games? Campus Review speaks to Dr Stuart
Smith, professor of disruptive technologies at USC, to find
out more.
“Humans have played board games for at least 3000 years,
meaning they are a deep part of our humanity,” Smith says.
“More recently, with digital games, the notion of gameplay
has transformed.
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“All of these elements of play have been largely about
entertainment, and particularly with digital games it’s largely around
enjoyment and entertainment.
“Serious games is the application of all of the elements of
game design that make games such an engaging activity and
pastime, and using that to address issues that are more than purely
entertainment in nature. Typically, we find the use of games in
education and training.”
One of the examples Smith offers is a medicine prac using a
cordless, handheld Nintendo Wii controller, which sounds a lot like
the classic children’s game Operation, “for identifying those people
who are going to be better at surgical training than those who
might struggle with that complex 3-dimensional manipulation”. The
Wii has also been used to help people recovering from physical
injuries and strokes – a process delightfully