It would take one semester to only discuss 3D topics. If the course is about Game making. why don't you use a 2D game engine or Editor (basic one like GameMaker or something). No real programming skills needed, but the students will need to know about how games are made:
Level design, Sprites, animation, ...
and going 2D is the best as you cannot just give them 3D without a 2D feel.
And as mentioned above, if they are going to do a 3D game or anything in 3D they need to get textures and stuff so they will aslo need art. In 2D they can create basic art from Paint.