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King Library Gaming Lab put to use for academics

Jasmine Hayes and Allison McGillivray, For The Miami Student

The Gaming Lab at Miami University is a classroom where a Xbox 360, Sony Play Station and Wii are some of the essential educational tools.

The Gaming Lab, located in the basement of King Library, was designed for students interested in gaming studies and research and for students in the new gaming curriculum part of the Armstrong Interactive Media Studies Program (AIMS), AIMS professor Sean Duncan said.

"The Gaming Lab is devoted to the study and design of games because we have a lot of students who are interested in this at Miami and they want to learn more," Duncan said.

The Gaming Lab was funded by two university technology fee grants, which come from student fees according to Duncan.

The Gaming Lab is only meant for students enrolled in certain courses associated with Interactive Media Studies or are doing research involving the study of games, Duncan said.

The Gaming Lab is used during IMS 211 The Analysis of Play and IMS 238 Narrative and Digital Technology, Duncan said.

Students also complete research in the Gaming Lab on topics such as games in education, games in social media, gaming addiction and the effect of games on mood according to Duncan and Lisa Santucci, associate dean for Instruction and Emerging Technologies.

Santucci was one of the original supporters and developers of the Gaming Lab.

The Gaming Lab was originally proposed in 2008 to provide a space for students to study games without the need to check out gaming equipment Santucci said.

According to Santucci there was an initial negative outcry about the Gaming Lab.

"There was a cartoon in The Miami Student that made fun of us," Santucci said. "People were upset, but it was during a time when the university was eliminating positions and cutting back."

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Santucci said she thinks even current students may not realize the Gaming Lab is for serious research and classes.

"I know people think 'why would people research games, they are just playing games,'" Santucci said. "Well a lot of people are studying them for design, addiction issues, all sorts of things; I feel like people when they hear 'gaming' think they are wasting their time."

The desire to provide a place for serious research is one reason why the Gaming Lab is only open to students in game studies classes or who are completing research Duncan said.

If the Gaming Lab was open to anyone then it will lose its purpose Duncan said.

"If people just viewed that space as a place to come and play Call of Duty whenever they wanted to then that sort of saps the purpose that we have," Duncan said. "It's not just a place for people to be playing, it's for us to be studying, critiquing, learning how to design and learning how to think about what these media mean: what they mean for society, what they mean for industry and what they mean for learning."

Another factor of the Gaming Lab is revitalizing education Duncan said.

"One of the trends in education both in the higher education level and in the K-12 level is games being a potential way for us to really revitalize education all across the board," Duncan said.

Sophomore Lauren Hook took a game studies class in the lab.

"I went to the Gaming Lab for my IMS 390 course," Hook said. "It was an organized but unorganized place to explore different games and game systems."

Hook plans on a career in public relations for a video game company.

"I would tell everyone to go to the Gaming Lab," Hook said. "I just think it's a really cool place."

King Library will continue to maintain, grow and change the Gaming Lab and collection based on student needs and desires Santucci said.