Ultimately, games call on the pre-existing skill set that millennials have at their disposal.  They may not know how to deftly navigate databases (and find good stuff) or write a cohesive argument/ analysis when they come to class on day one, but they have played, or watched someone play, or seen a video of someone playing video games on YouTube.    It is with this idea in mind that games function to put the student in the dual role of readers and writers: the social network element of interaction between people, interaction between ideas, interaction between worlds, interaction between genres & modes, and the interaction between reader/ writer and symbols on “paper.”  

Thus, I have found – and would argue – that game design is sufficiently distinctive to make it a useful analog for designing a writing course.  What follows are a few examples of how I have utilized game design concepts and built the opportunities for choice, collaboration and control into my classes.  This section hopefully speaks to how video/computer games currently used in the composition classroom and answers how, once the design concepts are in place, games can function as educational tools.

Case Study #1 ENGAGEMENT: ARG for Introductory Freshman Composition

By far the most complex of my attempts, I incorporated an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) into my freshman composition course -- taught in conjunction with Early American History -- in fall quarter 2007.  An ARG is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, but utilizes cellular, internet and other technology, to tell a story that is affected by the ideas, actions and choices of the players.

This ARG was called “We, The People” and involved a fictional history professor, Dr. Penzance, at my institution.  The narrative indicated that she had gone to Jamestown for the summer to engage in some of the historical excavation that was indeed underway there.  In the midst of her work, she uncovered an artifact that could change the course of American history.  However, she was being pursued by another archaeologist, Mr. Katt, an art and antiquities thief that wanted the artifact for his boss. In the course of the story/ game, students received clues via e-mails, text messages, Twitter, the characters’ websites, and phone calls. 

The purpose of the game was to involve and invest students in the rhetorical strategies of the primary documents of the historical period being studied.  In addition, source analysis was incorporated via the characters of Dr. Penzance and Mr. Katt, ie who was more credible and why should he or she be supported.

Sadly, this game ended five weeks in due to personal illness and my inexperience with how quickly and ultimately the players control the direction of the game.  Having learned my lesson, I will most certainly try again because of the admittedly qualitative positive response I got from students.  One way to see this excitement is via the blog that they kept of their theories and experiences.

Case Study #2 RIGOR: Video Game for Federal Way for Writing from Research

In fall of 2005, my Writing from Research class undertook a project that had them working with the city of Federal Way, Washington to create promotional materials to help teach surface water quality concepts to different sections of the city’s population.  One student group focused on elementary-aged students and decided the best way to teach the concepts was by designing a video game.  They taught the lesson in two classrooms, one based on lecture and one where students were able to play the game.  Statistically, the students who played the game did better on an end-of-class quiz about the water quality concepts.

In the game, the player was magically turned into a salmon after polluting the surface water’s quality.  As the salmon, the player learned the error of his/her ways.  There were multiple stages that examined contaminants, the water cycle, water processing in the city, and other areas that fleshed out the importance of the topic. 

Neither the students nor myself had any formal game design background, but we learned together and the project was well-received by both the elementary students who played and the city of Federal Way.

Case Study #3 ACHIEVEMENT: Star Rating System in Blackboard

I recently completed this study at the end of winter quarter 2008 and it is decidedly less labor intensive than the previous two examples.  With my institution’s recent upgrade to Blackboard Version 7, several new features were made available.  One of the most intriguing was the ability of the reader to rate discussion board posts according to a 5 star scale.  As I was playing Super Mario Galaxy at the time, and noted how the Mario Party series of games were about accruing stars, I decided to incorporate a competition to the discussion board posting grade component.  I presented a rubric for giving stars to classmates  that elucidated key department and college-wide learning outcomes.  For example, one class concern was that students could not give stars to themselves as to inflate his/her individual grade so that was something that was reflected on the rubric.  At the end of the quarter, the student with the most stars in the discussion forum won a modest gift certificate to a national video game chain.