Arts and Sciences

Video games have taught many our students the foundation of craft for both narrative and character, even if they may only see them as entertainment. This is not to say that all games serve to teach narrative. Some games do not provide this, games that are merely action-oriented or violent for violence's sake. Still, a great many of them open doors to imagination and creation so necessary to the writing process. Video games help the student writer understand the formation of narrative, and, at times, can even illustrate how not to build narrative. Recent games-notably The Last of Us, Heavy Rain, and The Witcher III: Wild Hunt incorporate heavy narrative themes, and allow players to take a first-hand part in the delivery of that narrative, putting games in a place no medium before has been. The player influences the story. By illustrating how this happens, a composition professor can inform students on the narrative process-both those who play these games and those who do not.

Sometimes I consider my path to teaching writing unique. After talking with adjunct colleagues, however, I discover I barely stand out. I didn't get a degree in composition and rhetoric before I taught. Instead, I argue, I earned the degree after working in the writing center at one of my schools. The actual degree came later, yes, and through my coursework I found myself nodding in recognition. Much of what my professor taught I practiced without ever realizing it. The classroom remains the place of focus in scripting composition pedagogy, but I believe the writing center acts as the proving grounds.

Did grading show the importance of student drafts or was it just a distraction? img: AlbertEinstein'sGrades.gif credit: Image: certificate of maturity issued to Albert Einstein, by a high school in Aargau, Switzerland (via the book Albert Einstein -Derrière l'image, by Ze'ev Rosenkranz. Editions Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2005)

With advancing technology and resources available to game designers, video games have developed into movie-like productions. This paper will discuss how these modern video games deliver a more tightly developed narrative and how such games can be used in the English Composition classroom, much like traditional texts, to help students learn writing craft. Through the exploration of pedagogical strategies for such use, this paper can inform English professors on how they might incorporate video games into their composition courses. The stigma of video games being a waste of time can now be countered by the richness of story current games exhibit, and these games can have a place in the English classroom. The transformation mimics that of movies decades ago. Video games are ready to be treated as a viable narrative medium just like their movie counterparts and this paper aims to offer ways they can do so.
Games like The Last of Us, Heavy Rain, and The Witcher II: Wild Hunt tell concrete stories in varying degrees of linearity. Gamers experience this narrative and upon completion, they have experienced enough story to fill several books. Not only do students serve as an audience to narrative, in many games they serve as shapers of the story and this can further aid teachers trying to illustrate the craft. The English composition instructor oftentimes must struggle to unpack narrative for students, and video games like these offer a familiar medium—one many students have a strong relationship with—to illustrate the storytelling process for all forms of writing. Through an understanding of how video games form stories students can learn to do so themselves, not unlike how they do the same when reading a novel, watching a play, or analyzing a poem.
Just as the older video games I grew up playing helped develop my creative imagination—and I credit them for enabling me to become a writer—newer games engage players in narrative that spans many topics, including social commentary, popular culture, and literature traditions. Players also wield a narrative power in some games, as their choices help dictate the narrative and the writers of these stories must code such optional narratives for this purpose. This paper focuses on games with strong narrative backgrounds and delves into the benefits and problems associated with using such games in the classroom. It also discusses the history of narrative in video games, starting with text-based adventures and limited graphical games that required the player to conjure up images to our current crop of games with eye-popping visuals which can help players understand a sense of place in their writing, along with the aforementioned narrative they deliver.
James Paul Gee has argued for video games in cognitive development and literacy. This work seeks to expand this influence to the process of writing and how video games can inform students in the composition classroom on narrative. What was once considered a basement hobby now stands to serve as a viable instruction aid for writing.

Mobile devices can be used as writing tools in the English classroom. This paper offers classroom exercises and strategies to implement the use of such devices, enabling a connected learning space that offers particular benefits to low-income students.

An introduction on how to use web videos to enhance classroom discussion and illustrate argument. This example explores Raymond Chandler's views on detective fiction in his article, 'The Simple Art of Murder' by comparing formula fiction to popular music.

Teaching narrative sense of place to student writers can be difficult with traditional texts. Virtual reality (VR) games can help students realize the importance of this by illustrating it. This article outlines a VR exercise for students to experience immersion as a parallel to how written works transport readers to their environments. The exercise offers a visual example of narrative sense of place and serves as a guide for the students’ writing. As personal narratives often suffer from a lack of sensory details, a visual reminder can help these writers reflect on how to immerse their readers. For students to fully grasp the purpose of the exercise, metacognitive practices are used to prepare them. Meta-strategic knowledge (MSK) makes students aware of what to look for in the VR game before they play it. I present an argument for the transfer of the skill of identifying the importance of sense of place to student writing through the familiar practice of playing games and the use of MSK. Wearable technologies serve as new frontiers for learning, and I believe exercises like this one using VR can reach more students, specifically visual learners and video game players.

Hamlet (and similar texts) can be difficult for students to follow initially. Often when students read, they may gloss over the text, missing key contexts. These problems lead to a lack of engagement in the literature classroom. The use of videos can help, but this often deters reading. This dilemma prompted the development of an Augmented Reality (AR) application to enhance Hamlet. By ‘zooming in’ on specific elements of Hamlet—Act I Scenes IV and V (the ghost scenes)— students explore and gain valuable information on the context behind these scenes. Students discover their perspective on a key question in the play; is the ghost real, or is it coinage from Hamlet’s brain? Students can arrive at a more concrete understanding of their own thoughts and take away a better grasp of both the context of the scene and the character of Hamlet through their active participation in the application.   Primarily, this article will highlight the dramatic effect student experience, both real and ...

Large variations in mobile users, mobile devices, and course content make generalizations about mobile learning difficult. Prior to the international pandemic that forced more virtual and mobile instruction, this exploratory study measured how students in one journalism and one English composition course at two universities responded to completing writing assignments using only their phones. Although pre and post differences in student attitudes and engagement between the writing courses were insignificant, further analyses of age differences (freshman vs seniors) revealed significant variance. These results suggest only a 3-year time span could determine how much students embrace mobile assignments.

Tracy Bridgeford states the goals for Teaching Professional and Technical Communication from the outset, calling the edited collection a "Practicum in a Book". The introduction states the volume is for inexperienced teachers of technical communication. By aligning the work as a guidebook, Bridgeford sets up certain expectations. For the most part, the volume hits the mark, both in content and delivery. This book reads like and can be referred back to as a guide, serving new teachers in the field well. From the roughly 15 pages of the introduction, readers get a sense of Bridgeford's strategy and methodology in setting up the book. The introduction is based on the core principles of teaching professional and technical communication (PTC) to those new to the field. Putting problem solving and audience analysis at the center of teaching PTC, the book approaches its subject with an eye on solving the common issues instructors face and imparting a well-researched method for teaching PTC. Bridgeford highlights the design elements of the text with keywords such as "Informational Design" and "Ethics and Style," situating this book as a textbook for teachers, and it flows accordingly. The same applies to the chapter layout. Topics come in an appropriate order, with each chapter building on the next. Chapters on content and style precede those on collaboration, presentations, and other ancillary teaching topics and strategies. What budding PTC teachers need to know comes first, and what they might want to know or further study sits at the end of the book. That said, there are no throwaway chapters or anything that reeks of