Although I was already confident using Unreal Engine, I quickly realised that teaching complete beginners was a very different challenge. Most of my students had never written a line of code before, and many had never worked with a game engine. It became clear that my role wasn't simply to teach Unreal Engine, but to teach students how to think like programmers.

 

Programming isn't about memorising syntax or learning where to connect Blueprint nodes. Whether using Unreal Blueprints, C++, C#, or any other language, the core principles remain the same. Students first need to develop logical thinking, understand how a computer follows instructions, and become familiar with universal programming concepts such as variables, data types, arrays, loops, functions, and problem solving. Without those foundations, progressing into more advanced gameplay systems becomes increasingly difficult.

 

As I reviewed the remaining teaching material from the previous Unity curriculum, I realised that many of these fundamental concepts were assumed knowledge rather than explicitly taught. While this approach may have been suitable for students who had already studied programming through the Computing course, many of the Game Design students were encountering programming for the first time. Before they could begin creating games, they first needed to understand the fundamentals.

 

This led me to redesign the structure of my lessons. Rather than separating theory from practical work, I introduced programming concepts at the point they became relevant. For example, while creating an AI character capable of patrolling between waypoints, the lesson would naturally reach a stage where students needed to repeat behaviour. At that point, I would pause the practical exercise, explain the theory behind loops, discuss the different types available and when they should be used, before returning to Unreal Engine where students immediately applied the concept within their own project.

 

This approach allowed theory to be reinforced through practice, helping students understand not only how a system worked, but why it was needed.As the curriculum developed, I also wanted to learn how experienced Unreal educators approached teaching the engine. After researching different resources, I discovered Unreal University, created by an Epic Games Accredited Instructor.

 

I recommended that the college purchase the course, allowing me to study a professionally developed Unreal curriculum and compare different teaching approaches. Rather than adopting the material directly, I used it as a reference point, adapting its structure where appropriate, expanding topics that required greater depth, and integrating ideas that complemented the learning outcomes of our own curriculum.

 

Alongside developing classroom materials, I also began creating my own online learning resources. After introducing a new topic during lessons, I would record a dedicated video covering the same material so students could revisit it in their own time. These were designed to be comprehensive learning resources rather than short tutorials, with many videos averaging around forty minutes in length and several extending beyond an hour.

 

During my first year I produced around twenty videos covering topics taught throughout the course, giving students a growing library of content they could return to whenever they needed to recap a concept or catch up outside the classroom