Teaching Students StarCraft in Korea

On February 10 2023 12:20 evilfatsh1t wrote:
all i can say is i wish i had a teacher like you. playing starcraft at school as part of an actual school program is the dream

On February 11 2023 00:02 smille wrote:
Awesome, I definitely would have loved such a class myself!

My thoughts on how to structure the course (although I have no pedagogic background at all):

I think it would be wise to aim very low skill-wise. Just like with other school subjects, I would start with super basic stuff. I feel like providing build orders or training shortcuts are already a step too far. Sure, it depends on their motivation and skill, but from my experience, the difficulties of anyone playing an RTS for their first time, are inconceivable to someone being used to playing ladder games.
Also on the topic of build orders. I think, it’d pose an interesting challenge to figure out the order and timing of the first few buildings and units yourself. You could let them come up with their own meta.

Regarding, how to let them practice, I’d say custom maps are a good way to go. Restrict available buildings and units. Invisibility, aoe and air units might be unnecessarily complex and frustrating. Let them develop their build order against scripted challenges. Micro challenges are possible as well. Basically, many RTS campaigns & challenge levels already demonstrate ways to teach the player first steps and beyond.
Real 1on1s amongst the students could lead to some toxic competition. However, after all, it is what “matters” in the RTS universe.
It could also be helpful to watch and analyze their replays together. Watching a super epic professional match, could be a good way to inspire them, but on the other hand it will be hard to appreciate all the details in the beginning.

There are so many things to consider. I would love to try my ideas myself and see how it pans out. :D All in all, I believe my goals are more fitting for a real subject, which is taught over the course of a few years. If it’s a one year class or so, I think I
d need to overthink it quite a bit.

I’m sure you will succeed in offering a fun and memorable course. Good luck with it!

On February 10 2023 14:37 Peeano wrote:
It seems like you already have a great idea how to handle this, but here's my 2cts:

I would definitely teach them 1a2a3a if I were you. Since they're beginners I'd do make a little lesson where they can't click a portrait to build a worker or additional supply, since these are the most common things you will build. This will teach them time mangement and multitasking.

For a recommended ASL game you should ask yourself what you want to showcase. Insane multitasking or methodical positional play and outmacro or some early rushes?
If I were you I'd pick a game where one player is on the verge of losing and then pulls out a win through sheer persistence and capatalizing on an enemy's mistake. This will teach them that making mistakes is only human and that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

On February 15 2023 07:17 Cryoc wrote:
Regarding replays to showcase comebacks, you can also use older replays, if you have a particular game in mind. Most 1.16.1 era replays should still work fine.
Other than that I can offer you two of my replays on low S level, where I made comebacks after getting busted:
https://repmastered.app/game/bZRIbImgWtCwvc1ZPhJjAS_ZsIB9DNSCXltJFCcT2Es
https://repmastered.app/game/NKyZEyPsepPZWkaMUD2kn4Q_8l2WAePagTShYac_Jcc

On February 13 2023 19:14 Heartland wrote:
I'm a teacher, and I think it should be less about teaching them Starcraft and more about teaching them a mind-set. Starcraft is nice, but learning how to learn is something that lasts forever. I used to work in a truly awful school, full of problems and social issues, but some of the students persevered in particular. These were the swimmers. They had learned that you have to just hunker down and do the work. Starcraft is really good in the same instance. Teach them that you concentrate on a small thing, over and over again. Teach them "grit". That will be good for them for the rest of their lives.

On February 16 2023 01:06 JieXian wrote:
Yea I remember you. You're amazing!


yea good point, strcraft teaches us lots of other life lessons too, including:
1) Understanding risk vs reward, tradeoffs and analysing "decision trees" (imo this is what makes Starcraft such a beautiful game).
2) Optimisation of time and energy.
3) Making decisions under stress, with imperfect information.
4) Learning how to gather information.
5) Being comfortable with stress and a steep learning curve.
6) Learning how to improve yourself by analysing and reflecting on your past errors.

and others I can't think of in a few minutes that someone else might want to add in

On February 16 2023 08:41 Lovethelord wrote:


^^ Yes, they are learning this in every session. The highs and lows from wins and losses are something they are dealing with right now.