• Ryan Germany // Contributing Reporter // @RyanGermany_
• Jan 31, 2025

Over the past few decades, video games such as Fortnite, Minecraft and Wii Sports have become a staple of American culture. As gaming has continued to grow, higher education has attempted to adopt video games into educational spaces.

The UA Italian language program was among those, introducing ITAL 10103 and ITAL 10203, known as “Italian Through Gaming,” in spring 2024 as a unique way for students to learn Italian.

According to a University press release, the program offers two special sections of Elementary Italian I and II.

“We have the normal curriculum like the other classes,” instructor of German and Italian Claudia Devich said, “but we also weave in a gaming component.”

Devich is the primary instructor of “Italian Through Gaming,” while also working with Director of International and Global Studies and associate professor of Italian Ryan Calabretta-Sajder.

According to Devich, the classes follow Assassin’s Creed II throughout the semester with the use of PlayStation 5 consoles provided by the World Languages and Literatures and Cultures Digital Humanities Studio.

Gaming sessions are held bi-weekly in the studio with the students working in groups.

According to Devich, students work in groups with one student playing, one helping and another completing an activity. She said activities are based on the topics students are learning in class and might involve taking a screenshot and describing what they see in Italian.

Sajder said the game is played completely in Italian during each session.

“While gaming, we encourage them to communicate in Italian amongst themselves, [and] using commands, while they complete their tasks,” Sajder said. “They have gaming, cultural, and linguistic tasks to complete while gaming to create a holistic experience.”

According to Devich, the course’s unique aspects help “diversify [our] learning styles,” while fostering connections and community between the students.

Junior social work major Jordyn Caston is a student in Devich’s elementary Italian II section. Caston said she has benefitted from working with other students in the studio.

“Playing the game in groups has also really helped me talk to people that I wouldn't have otherwise talked to,” Caston said. “I don't think of myself as a ‘gamer’, but playing this game has shown me [that] maybe I'm a little better at games than I gave myself credit for.”

Sajder said he also believes in the learning benefits video games offer to the language learning experience.

“We believe that gaming adds motivation and inspiration in learning the language and continuing to study Italian,” Sajder said. “We use the gaming moments to review/enhance material learned in class.”

According to Sajder, the Italian Program originally began exploring the use of virtual reality in instruction before video games because of “Dr. David Fredrick and the then Tesseract Center.”

Tesseract is a game development and visualization studio led by Fredrick at the U of A, according to the Tesseract website.

Sajder said he went to Italy to film on-site videos to create applications for students to learn Italian through the use of virtual reality. The use of gaming in the instruction of Italian was introduced a few years later.

The idea for the course came from workshops from another professor who first utilized gaming in the Italian classroom.

Devich said the presentation helped them see how fun it might be, and the positive experiences of this learning model being used elsewhere as a way to attract students to the Italian program.

However, the course is still not listed as “Italian Through Gaming” in the registrar’s catalog.

“We have posters all over the place saying that it is ‘Italian Through Gaming,’” Devich said. “Some students are a little stunned when I say we’re going to play.”

Although students might not realize they signed up for the special course, they are not graded on their ability to game, rather the curriculum.

However, as the class continues Sajder said he wants the class to be recognized for its gaming component.

“We would like to make ITAL 10103 and 10203, ‘Elementary Italian I and II through Gaming’ stand-alone courses with their own codes targeting better students who really want to and enjoy gaming,” Sajder said.

The class will continue to be offered in the upcoming semesters and is being expanded, according to Devich.

“We are in the process of buying two or more PlayStations,” Devich said. “And we are talking about getting Nintendo consoles for some gaming with Mario.”

Devich said she is working more and more on the class because she has seen in the end that students enjoy it.

“I have really enjoyed taking Italian with Professoressa Devich,” Caston said. “She's got such good energy that makes me want to show up.”