Developing a Pedagogical Framework for Gaming Literacy in the Multimodal Composition Classroom
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TOOLS OF PLAY: DEVELOPING A PEDAGOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR GAMING LITERACY IN THE MULTIMODAL COMPOSITION CLASSROOM Tina Lynn Arduini A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2016 Committee: Kristine Blair, Advisor Gi Yun, Graduate Faculty Representative Lee Nickoson Sue Carter Wood ii ABSTRACT Kristine Blair, Advisor Since the publication of James Paul Gee’s (2003) seminal text What Video Games Have to Teach us About Learning and Literacy, scholars in the field of rhetoric and writing have been looking at the ways video games have made an impact on modern literacies. Paralleling this research, rhetoric and writing teacher-scholars have also been exploring the benefits to teaching multimodal composition skills to their students. My dissertation examines the intersections of these two related fields of study in order to help construct a pedagogical framework that utilizes gaming literacies in the multimodal composition classroom. Using the gaming literacy narratives of three student gamers at a rural Midwestern university, I address the following research questions: How do students acquire gaming literacy? What kinds of multimodal skills are acquired through gaming literacy? What does one’s gaming literacy narrative reveal about his or her literate practices? The answers to these questions help to inform my approach to the more pedagogically-driven research question: How can gaming literacy be effectively used in the multimodal composition classroom? My findings are influenced by technofeminist research methodologies so that I explore not only the role that video games have played upon my research participants but also the social adaptations that the participants have exerted over their gaming experiences. Similarly, I help breakdown the rigid line between researcher and research participant by inviting my participants into a discussion of my findings, allowing them to maintain agency over their representations. My research reveals many connections between gaming literacies and the skills required to create and consume meaningful multimodal compositions. In my analysis of these findings, I establish the iii importance of these connections—specifically the social and technological skills obtained through gaming—and develop a pedagogical framework that utilizes the literate skills of gamers in order to institute practical course goals and objectives for the multimodal composition classroom. iv For my parents—Flora and Kenneth—and Mike, who have always supported my aspirations. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project has been a joy to complete largely due to the people who have been involved from its inception to its completion. I’d like to first thank Dr. Kristine Blair—my chair, mentor, and friend. Her support for my project from its rudimentary stages as a Venn diagram on a white board to its 200-page manuscript has been invaluable. Thank you for your guidance and feedback at every step during my PhD work. You inspired me to engage with the field and helped me find my scholarly identity—I will be forever thankful. I’d also like to thank the rest of my committee: Dr. Lee Nickoson for her detailed feedback on my work, especially on areas of the research that made me a bit nervous; Dr. Sue Carter Wood for her continued support and grammar advice when I couldn’t pin down some pesky phrases; and Dr. Gi Yun for his outside-of-the-field insights that made me more aware of my audiences. Finally, I’d like to thank my family and my cohort. Their continued support made this leg of my academic journey the best one yet because I never felt isolated regardless of how much time I had to spend sitting alone at the computer. Many thanks to my online social network as well. They were always willing to help me think of the right word or phrases whenever I got stumped. And deepest thanks go to my husband—Mike Shank—for his help with this project in particular. His hours of transcribing and collaboratively-coding made my life much easier and more enjoyable. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER 1: GAMING LITERACY AND MULTIMODALITY .................................... 1 Defining Terms ..................................................................................................... 5 Literature Review .................................................................................................. 8 Gaming Literacy ........................................................................................ 8 The literate practices of gamers ...................................................... 10 Gaming literacy in the traditional composition classroom ............... 19 Gaming literacy in the multimodal composition classroom ............. 23 Multimodal Composition in the Classroom ................................................ 26 Chapter Abstracts .................................................................................................. 31 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 32 CHAPTER 2: TECHNOFEMINIST RESEARCH PRACTICES ON SOCIOTECHNICAL COLLABORATIONS ....................................................................................................... 34 Student Gamers and Their Literate Practices .......................................................... 36 A Technofeminist Approach to Research ............................................................... 40 Framing Arguments as a Technofeminist ................................................... 41 Social technology ........................................................................... 42 Multivocal narration ....................................................................... 45 Collecting Data as a Technofeminist .......................................................... 49 Survey as a recruitment tool ........................................................... 50 Feminist interview techniques ........................................................ 52 Technofeminist literacy narratives .................................................. 57 vii Positionality as a researcher ............................................................ 59 Analyzing Data as a Technofeminist .......................................................... 62 Grounded theory collection processes ............................................. 63 Collaborative coding and self-reflective memos .............................. 66 Limitations of the Study ........................................................................................ 68 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 71 CHAPTER 3: DEVELOPING SOCIAL SKILLS AND SPONSORING GAMING LITERACY ...................................................................................................................... 73 Collaboration ......................................................................................................... 75 Face-to-Face Interactions ........................................................................... 78 Watching others play ...................................................................... 79 Playing cooperative games ............................................................. 88 Online Interactions ..................................................................................... 90 Maintaining relationships ............................................................... 90 Building new relationships ............................................................. 96 Friendly Competition ............................................................................................. 98 Literacy Sponsors .................................................................................................. 104 Familial Sponsors....................................................................................... 106 Funding opportunities ..................................................................... 107 Teaching each other ........................................................................ 112 Creating a desire ............................................................................. 115 Technological Sponsors: Creating Incentives and Excitement .................... 119 Educational Sponsors: Access to Computer Games .................................... 123 viii Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 126 CHAPTER 4: EXAMINING THE TECHNOLOGICAL SKILLS OF GAMERS AND THEIR POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS IN THE MULTIMODAL COMPOSITION CLASSROOM .................................................................................................................. 129 Gamers as Cyborgs ................................................................................................ 131 Technology Cyborgs .................................................................................. 132 Using multiple devices ................................................................... 132 Using multimedia devices ............................................................... 139 Becoming proficient with software ................................................. 143 Social Cyborgs ........................................................................................... 147 Digital communities ....................................................................... 148 Social