Maria das Graças Chagas
Most Recent Affiliation(s):
- Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
Bio:
Maria das Graças Chagas works as Computer Graphics and Game Design Lecturer at the Art and Design Department, at the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Brazil. In 1990 she started to merge her computing and art skills, when she went to Dundee, in Scotland, to get the post-graduate diploma in Electronic Imaging, at the Jordanstone College of Art/University of Dundee, with a British Council Cheevening Student Grant. In 1992 she returned to Brazil and since then she is been working as Computer Graphics and Game Design Lecturer at the Art and Design Department, at the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Brazil. She is also the Computer Graphics Supervisor of the Art and Design Department, and head of Multimedia Division of PUC-Rio. For the last 14 years she has been teaching Computer Graphics and Coordinating Projects for development of Multimedia and Interactive applications. At the moment she is studying to get the PHD in Design at PUC-Rio. Her research work has been dedicated to improve the teaching of Game Design in Brazil. In 2002 Maria das Graças implemented a pioneer interdisciplinary game design course in Brazil, gathering together in the same classroom undergraduate students from Art/Design and Computing/Engineering courses working in complementary tasks and roles of a common electronic game project. Four years after its implementation, the experience has been very successful in developing a teaching methodology that leads the students to develop both creative and technical skills.
Her experience of teaching has proved that a game course with an interdisciplinary approach can bring a positive contribution to the learning process of Computing/Engineering and Art/Industrial Design undergraduate students. It can also offer a very productive environment for learning specific contents and understanding the connections that exist between the design elements and the computing technology applied in the work flow of a game design project. Computer Science/Engineering students have found through this course a path to become creative programmers, as they encountered motivation to learn the necessary basics of computing programming in a environment they find far more interesting than the traditional computing science class. The courses´s interdisciplinary approach has also helped them to understand the relationship between the roles of Artists, Designers and Programmers when developing a game or any other interactive piece of work. The level of motivation in this course is very high, with students behaving in a very professional and autonomous way. Since its implementation in 2002 the course has proved to be a very successful experience in developing a teaching methodology that leads the students to develop both creative and technical skills.