{"id":13529,"date":"2016-11-10T19:20:07","date_gmt":"2016-11-11T00:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.digitalrhetoriccollaborative.org\/?p=13529"},"modified":"2023-12-01T13:20:51","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T18:20:51","slug":"watson-session-d11-games-play-and-design-composing-mobility-in-genres-learning-and-knowledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.digitalrhetoriccollaborative.org\/2016\/11\/10\/watson-session-d11-games-play-and-design-composing-mobility-in-genres-learning-and-knowledge\/","title":{"rendered":"Watson Session D11: Games, Play, and Design: Composing Mobility in Genres, Learning, and Knowledge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Presenters<\/b>
\nBrett Keegan, Syracuse University
\nNina Feng, University of Utah
\nRoger Graves, University of Alberta
\nHeather Graves, University of Alberta
\nGeoffrey Rockwell, University of Alberta<\/p>\n

Review<\/b>
\nIn the panel \u201cGames, Play, and Design,\u201d each of the presenters approached game integration into the composition classroom from different institutional contexts and theoretical perspectives. Yet, what tied these presentations together was the thoughtful level of research and discussion that explored how we, as instructors, may move beyond approaching games in the classroom as a single activity or even a more casual theme, toward creating games that encompass the goals of a particular course and the writing that takes place there. \u00a0
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Brett Keegan\u2019s talk \u201cTinkering with (Inter)textuality\u201d connected understandings of rhetoric to play by\u00a0pulling from game theory, rhetorical discussion on design and invention, and scholarship on genre. Keegan describes how genre<\/i> and games<\/i> are aligned since they both require a procedural rhetoric\u2014or some set of implicit rules\u2014that develop and change through circulation.<\/p>\n

\"Quote<\/a>
[from conference slides]<\/figcaption><\/figure>To show how these considerations of convention may be brought into the composition classroom, Keegan shared an assignment that asks students to select a writing genre and compose a text that resists, plays with, and\/or attempts to break the conventions of that genre. Given the flexibility and play this activity embraces, students are provided the opportunity to demystify genre conventions and develop an increased awareness of the rules that circulate as we compose.<\/p>\n

In the next presentation \u201cDeep Gamification World Making in First-Year Writing,\u201d Nina Feng described how she turned her first-year writing course into a game world as a response to Gee and Giroux\u2019s critiques of standardized education. During the talk, Feng acknowledges some of the tension and debate around the term \u201cgamification,\u201d stating, \u201cI hate this term…but it is<\/i> useful.\u201d Gamification, for Feng, is more about games<\/i> than it is play,<\/i> since it emphasizes the use of game design elements in non-game contexts. On the other hand, games that include the integration of play allow for freedom and for the “players” to make choices.<\/p>\n

Whereas much past game design for education has been problematic and shallow<\/em> since it has focused on features of a game\u2014such as points, leaderboards, and badges\u2014there have been less strives to make pedagogical environments that employ the deep<\/em> features of a game that embrace play, wonder, and narrative possibilities.<\/p>\n

In her own pedagogy, Feng took advantage of the affordances of games\u2019 deep features by developing her first-year writing class as a sci-fi game space called \u201cThe Empathy Trials.\u201d The features of \u201cThe Empathy Trials\u201d are complex and go far beyond the simple integration of badge or point systems: for example, Feng performs as the planet\u2019s leader by creating pre-recorded video narratives and even leaves clues under students\u2019 desks to add to the narrative of the game experience.<\/p>\n

\"Image
[Image representing “The Empathy Trials” from conference slides]<\/figcaption><\/figure>Most importantly, the game world Feng creates resists the shallow features of gamification to more fully immerse students into a world of play and knowledge-building.<\/p>\n

In the final presentation Roger Graves and Heather Graves described The Game of Writing<\/i>, a software program developed specifically for the composition classroom at the University of Alberta. The Game of Writing<\/i> automates gamification systems often used in classrooms, such as goal achievement, recognition through badges, and statistical feedback. The software also uses social networking theory to encourage commenting and feedback to students from other students, from the instructor, from writing tutors, and from graduate teaching assistants.<\/p>\n[Minutes 47-52 of this video from CCCC 2015 in Tampa, Florida offers another glimpse of \u201cThe Game of Writing\u201d]\n