I want to bring attention to some concerns regarding Dr. Dana Wortman, an instructor of game design and development at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS). The reason for this post is to serve as a warning to other potential students and to be another call for action from the university administration to address the issues raised. As such, it is important to address these concerns in a professional and objective manner. Despite the dissatisfaction expressed by many students in her classes, Dr. Wortman is currently the only instructor for many of the "GDD" classes, which are mandatory for students pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Game Design & Development. The Chair of Engineering at UCCS has acknowledged receiving multiple complaints about her, and has stated that she has promised in the past to improve. However, there has been no significant improvement in her teaching practices. 

A student enrolled in one of Dr. Wortman's GDD classes may encounter the following issues:

• Slow feedback on assignments, which may remain ungraded until the end of the semester.
• Outdated course materials and assignments, which can be frustrating when the correct answer is no longer accurate.
• High amounts of homework, often exceeding 25 hours per week in addition to classroom time.
• Little assistance from the instructor in areas of game development beyond a few specific topics, particularly any modern (2015+) game development tools and techniques.
• Unfounded accusations of cheating against students.
• Harsh, abrasive language from the instructor that lacks empathy and constructive criticism, which can be discouraging for students.
• Assignments that are marked on a pass/fail basis, despite appearing to have point values, leading to confusion and frustration when students expect a certain grade but receive a zero instead.
• A variety of different software and tools, many of which may be experimental and not useful in industry-standard practices.

Overall, the experiences of students in Dr. Wortman's classes have been less than ideal. While it is possible for students to survive in this environment, it requires dedication and independent learning, as well as a willingness to tolerate unprofessional behavior. It is worth noting that Dr. Wortman has defended her teaching practices by citing the work culture of developers at top game studios, also known as "crunch" where many developers work long hours during the development of a game. However, it is important to recognize that the classroom is not a game studio, and these practices do not contribute to effective learning. Despite occasional grade curves, many top-performing students will only receive a C or B, reflecting the overall ineffectiveness of the teaching practices. For more on the thoughts of the other students, continue on to the appendices. 

Appendix A:

Here are some direct quotes from different students discussing her teaching in a private (student-only) Discord server. These are all from different students and from over the course of the past 5 years.

“She’s the school bully on the playground grown up to teach”

“Dana is a lost cause, she actually does have favorites in classes”

“I swear dana takes pleasure in giving low grades”

“[Dana is the] least qualified to teach these classes imo, she had one internship at microsoft and she thinks she knows everything”

“I do think she had/has favorites. I certainly wasn’t one of them”

“Dana would always berate me for not ‘reading the slides’ when I came in for help, so I (and others) actually got discouraged from going to her for help”

“even if someone is inexperienced teaching her course work, you'd see a waiting list Just to Avoid her. because it's honestly ‘worth the wait’ to 90% of students”

“Her also waiting to grade midterms until the WEEK before final exams was also f***ed*”

“I took a 19 credit semester once and 12 of those were dana. I wanted to d i e”

“Dana is like trying to wrestle a tiger. it's dangerous for students mental and general course fatigue just to deal with her. so any improvement would be like "Just give me something else.”

“Honestly, the more I've worked with Dana over the last few years, the less confident I am in taking her advice on projects.”

“I think the highest average I've seen in her tests is like 70%”

“lol, dana posted the game engines final review this morning. The day of the final.”

[Student referring to another student’s project for one of Dr. Wortman’s classes] “he apparently spent all semester on something then got a C because it didn't 'look like he spent enough time on it'”

“Dana made me real unhappy last semester. Her grading and testing is just atrocious”

Appendix B:

https://www.change.org/p/jugal-kalita-fire-dana-wortman-from-the-uccs-cs-gdd-department-61014b15-f424-4870-a68d-c595b6a33ec7

https://web.archive.org/web/20230406192720/https://www.change.org/p/jugal-kalita-fire-dana-wortman-from-the-uccs-cs-gdd-department-61014b15-f424-4870-a68d-c595b6a33ec7 (internet archive link in case of removal)