Musings & Writ

A platform for writing, the performing arts, and cats - not necessarily in that order.

[themrleininger-deactivated20240]

Module 4: Peer Reblog - My Game

For one of my Choice Project options, I created a game. Below is a screenshot of the first instruction sheet, though I have also included a link to the PDF. Let me know if there are any instructions that need clarification or more explanation. Thank you!

Amazingly Simple Graphic Design Software – Canva

[megpoff]

@themrleininger What a fascinating game! I’d play it just to figure out if I had the “know how” to win! Can you elaborate on how this is a game that helps learning within the classroom? I’m assuming strategy is one of the concepts. What subjects/areas of learning can this game be useful? I love the format and colors: it looks fun! 🤩

[jameswriter3739]

What Play Can Teach Us About Writing Blog

Here are some of my ideas for this blog:

Writing is a creative expression of the self. Writing is also play, which requires a playful mindset. Too often we lose this in our approach to teaching writing, especially academic writing with all its rules and conventions. Our approach in education has been to "teach to the [standardized] test." This approach often takes all the creativity and personality out of writing, and students start to develop a negative attitude towards it when it is a prescribed formula instead of their own unique expression. Students are growing up and not seeing themselves in their writing; it is no wonder that they start to despise it. We ought to at all times approach writing as a creative act where the writer is an artist at play, expressing their own unique creation.... If writing forever stays creative and personal, then "playfulness" and a "gaming mindset" can emerge. 

Just as gifted athletes unite mind, body, and soul and get “in the zone,” like Cailtin Clark effortlessly sinking another three pointer, writers, with enough play, can discover their own unique voice and write with “flow” (Stenros 202-203). The best writers achieve the play mindset of “flow,” where the words come easily. For novice writers, like the noobiest of gamers, writing can be a struggle; for expert writers, like master gamers, writing is effortless, for they have mastered the craft so well that they are always playing with words.

[megpoff]

Hi @jameswriter3739 I like where you are going with the first few sentences here. There is something to be said about creativity in writing and creativity in play. There is a freedom in both. I probably would want to expand more on the athletic comparisons here regarding how “flow” is positioned. My son plays basketball (although he’s no Caitlin Clark!) 😀 but his freedom is in the practicing of the 3 pointers outside the game because he’s engaging in the position. This effort helps transfer that movement into the game. You could talk about the practice of writing helps with the flow of writing. But I love your perspective.

[megpoff]

Module #4: Dr. P CHECK IN POST

For our essay, if we are pulling more sources for our research - do we need to make a comparison to the texts we are reading or are just we confirming our own theoretical findings? Or both? I just want the synthesis part to make sense. 😆

@npfannen

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CHOICE PROJECT:

MAPACA PROPOSAL:

Abstract: To explore the theory that dramaturgical affect is apparent in gameplay for the individual because human interactions are dependent upon context, setting, and audience.

EAPSU PROPOSAL

Abstract: The fundamentals of play are tied to the Foebelian approach which advocates the free activity of imagination in childhood development by making connection to nature, creativity, and community discourse.

Blog Post #1:

What play can teach us about writing: I will explore the connections between play and writing.

Blog Post #2:

Value of studying games as a graduate student: I will talk about how studying play theory and games helped with my graduate learning resulting in growth as a student and educator.

ESSAY:

I would like my essay to be the extension of my MAPACA proposal which continues the discussion of symbolic interactionism and impression management - both theoretical concepts heralded by Erving Goffman.

Now my abdomen AND brain hurt. 🙃

[megpoff]

SNACK TIME

Pretzels! 🥨

I live in the perfect county for such treats. 😊

[sindarinscholar]

Mangle of Play

The idea of mangle of play seems like something that should definitely be talked about. The idea that community can be built by play and then effect the play itself, turning it into this flow between player culture and the playing itself is something I knew about but didn't think about in relation to play before.

I take player-culture as meaning the meta-game that evolves around play, trying to optimize and learning through play to accomplish the task, thus mangling the exact nature of play in the process.

This occurs in almost every game that I have played or play. In World of Warcraft, there are entire communities based around optimization and making sure you are maximizing your ability usage time and a million other ways to "play" correctly.

This happens in Warhammer too, where each army has a particular build that is considered "good" regardless of how much fun it is.

The learning opportunities presented through mangle of play though result from the social and logical collaboration based around the play. This lets academics study the social impacts of the different forms of play.

[megpoff]

I think there are many links to the sociocultural aspects of play and game studies. One area of research that I’m currently exploring is the dramaturgical influence of individuals within a game.

I never thought deeply about play and how interwoven it is when it comes to persona. It is also dictated by time, setting, and people. Games a bit more structured in those identifying properties. However, both in play acting and game play, players are inherently tied to player culture.

[mmtys]

Common Game Assessments

Common game assessments are Quizizz, Kahoot!, Gimkit, and Blooket. These are good for checking for understanding, recall, review. A lot of the time these are for formative assessment pieces. However, during COVID’s distance learning, a lot of these also got switched into summative assessments because we weren’t in person with students. These were tools that students already knew and then just turned into tests and quizzes, just like self-grading Google Forms. In my experience, when we returned to the building, we still weren’t allowed to share materials (so no paper passed back and forth), so these tools still held their place as all forms of assessment. Even now, I know people who will still use these as summative assessment tools because they can grade themselves and give so much more data on students than a paper/pencil test. 

[megpoff]

I think it is really a great observation you are making when it comes to how game based assessments changed due to the social climate. Covid definitely changed the social climate, in many areas - especially the classroom! Do you feel that this transition has been beneficial for the students and/or the teachers long term?

[megpoff]

Module #4: Chapter 1

ORIGINAL CONTENT WRITING

GBL => new ideas… familiarity… why…

New ideas: One area that I learned about in this chapter is how certain game-based learning is crucial to the development and skills of the students in the classroom. I think it’s fascinating how there are a variety of methods that stretch across differing disciplines regarding GBL. Some that I noticed on the list regarding computer games and their effectiveness:

Value added research: “research that seeks to identify game features that promote learning of academic content. It involves comparing the learning outcome of students who learn from a base version of a game versus learning from the same game with one feature added” (pg. 9)

5 Promising Features of Computer Games in Education =>

1. Modality

2. Personalization

3. Pretraining

4. Coaching

5. Self - explanation

*These are all aspects that I feel are familiar to me because of the composition process in writing studies. These same features are applicable for the graduate writer.

[megpoff]

Module #4: GBL Chapter 20

ORIGINAL CONTENT WRITING

What is one way GBA could support developing writers? Why?

There were many connections that I made regarding the writing process and GBA. The biggest takeaway I had was the connection of process => and tenacity is required.

Writing in itself is a process. We process the information… the words… the writing down… the drafting… the revising… the editing… these are all forms of process and quite frankly, behavior.

In GBA, “persistence was measured” (pg. 496). This persistence is very much applicable to the graduate writing student, and writers at large. How many times have we gone through the various stages of the writing process, wringing our hands because we are just not quite there yet… and yet, we persist.

This is just one simple takeaway that is applicable to both writing and games. Have you ever wanted to quit a game? I think of Monopoly at 2am in the morning where the opposing player just won’t quit mortgaging property after property... This persistence is key to the finality of the game whether we realize it or not.

How are the outcomes of writing any different? They aren’t. We continue to negotiate with words and our tenacity helps to establish the final outcome.

[megpoff]

Module #4: GBL Chapter 2

ORIGINAL CONTENT WRITING

“Example of a game that supports learning recall.”

Okay… so upon reading the following: “The growing availability and popularity of personal computers in the 1980’s allowed the birth of educational software, including The Oregon Trail, Number Munchers, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and Reader Rabbit. …. The fall of this early ‘Golden Age’ of educational games came from a number of factors … new technology with not enough content being created” (pg. 30-31).

I typed the above for context. I’m older, so I remember these games on my PC. I’ll try not to be offended that these are considered “Golden Age” 🙃 but… my favorite game was Reader Rabbit. 🐇 The recall was easy because there weren’t many words that were used. Let’s be honest, technology was not super amazing back then - but I LOVED WINNING. I won every time because I could memorize the patterns.

It is quite archaic when seeing versions of it now but it brings back so many memories!

[megpoff]

Dr. P Check In Post

Choice Assignments:

For the MAPACA & EAPSU submissions can we send those to you first before submitting to the conferences? Would like guidance and/or feedback on those submissions.

@npfannen

[megpoff]

Snack time.

Experiencing quite a bit of nausea because of my surgery last week. (Pathology results are benign!). Yay! But I’m living on saltines these days. 😑

[megpoff]

Module #4: Dr. P Check In Post

Regarding chapter 7 GBL - is there a tie between how we engage in “affinity spaces” and the games advertised therein? I ask because my most frequented social media is Facebook and over time that specific “affinity space” has been inundated with game advertisements. It is geared toward my age group (candy crush comes to mind). I just want to know if marketing targets the sociocultural elements (age brackets) of these “affinity spaces”. @npfannen

I personally hate ads.

[megpoff]

Module 4: Dr P Check In Post

GBL: Chapter 1

In the design elements of game based learning did you want examples of actual games or just the descriptions? This is one I plan to revisit if you want actual games mentioned. @npfannen

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Module #4: Sociocultural Foundations of Game-Based Learning

“Our research indicates that social media is now an intrinsic part of participating in affinity spaces” (pg. 200).

Fun fact:

2003 => MySpace was a social media platform

2004 => Facebook was a social media platform

2005 => Reddit was a social media platform

2006 => Twitter was a social media platform

2007 => tumblr was a social media platform

2010 => Instagram was a social media platform

2016 => TikTok was a social media platform

I know there are many others, please feel free to list the ones I’m missing. I’m old enough to remember when MySpace was hip and cool. I practically lived on that thing when I was in college. That said, “my affinity” space discontinued when I didn’t see much traffic there anymore. I deleted my account about 10 years ago. That said, do you have “affinity spaces” you still cling to or have migrated to? Has this helped with your community discourse and/or learning? I’m generally curious to know. 😃

[megpoff]

Favorite snack???

Don’t make me choose…

Chips and salsa 🇲🇽

Haribo cherry gummies 🍒

White cheddar popcorn 🍿

Nutella 🌰

Ice cream 🍦

[mmtys]

What is graduate writing? Essay

This feels really messy to me yet, but:

Graduate writing is a rhetorical process that synthesizes prior knowledge with new learning, typically in an academic style. This writing has a focus on positioning students as rising researchers who are contributing to their chosen academic field.  

Plan/Thoughts:

WPA Outcomes 

Process 

Critical thinking, reading 

Transfer

M.Ed. vs. M.A. experiences with writing 

Feedback welcomed! I just keep staring at this "definition" like I've never done graduate level writing in my life.

[megpoff]

@mmtys I think that you are making wonderful connections here. It is hard to define graduate writing, so I said that! The big word that sticks out to me is “process” because it’s an active word and it is always connected to growth - elements we all need as scholars!