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I've been studying and working with Game Development for quite a while and I can't help to notice that I'm not using anything that was presented to me in college.

My college is focused in gaming programming, BUT all that is taught is basic programming like basic loops, conditions or object oriented programming. Most of the teachers don't even know how to build a game or what a game engine is.

I believe it's taught this way because there's no teacher with experience in the area and the topics are very wide, like "programming class" without specifying a programming language and what's going to be learned.

Is there a way I could propose a change of the subjects we study in class? Or even bring attention to the matter, so that someone could take action?

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    Do you still keep in touch with any of your old profs? You could drop them a nice email and mention new methods you use. Or, you could offer to give a seminar or guest lecture for your profs. Another option would be to speak for a student group (e.g., a student SIAM chapter). Commented May 3, 2017 at 19:55
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    Are you still in that college, or are you well past it?
    – svavil
    Commented May 3, 2017 at 22:04
  • I'm afraid I don't understand the question - is it that you're now teaching at a college and they are making you teach a syllabus which you don't think is suitable or that you're studying at a new college and it's not as good as your previous one?
    – Retro
    Commented May 3, 2017 at 22:33
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    Needs more detail: Are you a current student, ex-student, something else? When you say "working with Game Development" are you talking about: class assignments, hobby work, or professional work? Commented May 4, 2017 at 14:46

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In the comments, you explained that you are currently a student. I would suggest you have a friendly conversation with your professors. Perhaps you know your advisor a little bit, or one of your professors from your class and you're comfortable talking to her or him.

For example, let's say you decide to talk with Professor Smith. I would go up to Professor Smith (e.g., during office hours) and say: "Hi. I had a cool internship at Gaming, Inc. I learned some interesting programing methods X, Y, and Z" (follow their interest in their methods here, you might end up deep in details or your professor may not care). Then ask something like "We haven't covered the methods in my classes. I think they would help other students in our program. Are they included anywhere in our curriculum?"

This will start a conversation with your Professor about the curriculum. Most reasonable professor will be open to your conversation, just don't put them on the defensive. For example, avoid saying something like "our program sucks..." or "you should do...". Also, keep your suggestions positive and avoid being arrogant. Perhaps your program is revising their curriculum now and you do not know about it.

As an aside, I had a similar experience as an undergrad wildlife biology student. During a summer internship, I worked for a government agency using management approaches not covered in class. I asked a friendly professor why we were not learning the topic during an informal office hour. The friendly prof said a couple of reasons (basically their curriculum had not been updated) and then another, crotchety old professor jumped in and though my idea was stupid (he was dinosaur who did not like change). The friendly professor actually changed his view point and started defending my question/view-point. In my case, I was not able to change the curriculum, but I did learn why it was what it was.

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