Welcome to the Course!

What's in this slide deck?

- Course Policies & Expectations

- Overview of Major Units and Assignments for the course

- Level Up Strategies: Discussion of the course

- 1st Week Assignments and Intro Interactions

Who am I? - Class/Colleague Intros

Eric Cody Smothers, Ph.D.,

Hometown:  Harrodsburg, KY

• I've taught First-Year and Advanced Writing Courses, Business Communication, Digital Rhetoric & Writing, as well as a visual research course focussed on icons. 

• My Special Research Interests include visual rhetorics, iconography, and digital circulation online related to  icons, symbols, I’m interested in visuals and how they are used in marketing and advertising. I have skills with web building, infographics, and researching.

• I enjoy rock collecting, going to national parks, and reading fiction, poetry, and non-fiction.

Instructor Contact Info

You'll find me 4th floor Smiley Library!

Cupples 425:

Office Hours

Monday/Wednesday

12pm-2pm

Tuesday/Thursday

12:30pm-2:30pm

and by appointment

email: esmothers@centralmethodist.edu

I usually respond within a day so feel free to reach out and let me know what's going on

Course Disclaimer: You will enjoy this course IF...

Share past and current experiences with online content creators, gaming, influencers and media

Be willing to explore NEW ideas, genres, & concepts in gaming.

Voicing opinions about gaming/media topics is interesting.

You do nothing in online spaces, hate technology, games or fun...

You don't want to explore new research trends or topics.

You are an Internet Troll!... Watch out Newbs!

This class may not be for you IF...

Researching popular culture and technologies sounds interesting...

Discussion Starter

{Research is... What stands out to you?}

• Problems and Solutions
• Writing what others say
• Writing what you find out
• Citing Sources
• Giving Evidence
• Liking your topic of choice
• Connecting with an audience

• Supporting your community or group
• Informing and Persuading the Public
• Using all available methods for research
• Figuring out how to avoid Writer's Block
• Using the "right" people for participants
• Finding websites and online content to use in your research
• Sharing expertise with others
• Advertising important issues

Course Policy Overview

• Attendance (In Canvas, Roll-Call Attendance)
  • THREE-STRIKE system for unexcused absences. Absences only start to impact your grade from 4 absences onward. Attendance percentage impacts your grading contract level and rank.
  • Excused absences are because of:
    • Sickness/Illness
    • Family Emergency
    • Professional or Legal Obligation
    • CMU sanctioned events
  • 2-3 minutes late = tardy; 5+ minutes late = absence

CONTRACT GRADING STATEMENT: I'll hand out a grading contract sheet I'll talk about and you'll sign - this is to show the levels of grading you'll be expecting.

ANTI-TROLL POLICY: Be respectful and helpful to one another.

Course Texts and Materials

*You'll need access to a print/ebook copy of Gee's book by Week 3 - available at the bookstore or through Ebay/Amazon (fairly cheap) - there are also several copies available for checkout at the library circulation desk.

All other texts will be provided through Canvas reading packs (articles, webtexts, or Ebook chapters

To better practice getting to know our research colleagues, and establishing a visual research identity for ourselves go to Canvas Week 1 and Click on: User Profiles - My Research Colleagues.

• Everyone receives a COLOR-CODED NOTE CARD to determine your group slide deck. We will share these at the start of our next class to get everyone acquainted.
• Follow instructions on creating your individual Slide Name Tag.
• As a group, contribute ideas together for your COLOR-CODED UNIQUE PROMPT.
• We will share our official slides/content at the start of next class.

• Irvin's "What is Academic Writing?"
• Bourgonjon's "Relevance of Video Game Literacy"
• Web-Texts on Video Games and Learning

What are you getting from the Text?

• Look for designed text: bold, italics, different sizes
• Pay attention to section header title to preview what is coming
• Latch onto Key Words/Terms that seem unfamiliar OR
• What key words/terms does the writer come back to multiple times? What CONNECTIONS can I make?
• What other writers or sources does the author mention?
• SKIM for moments in the text that stand out - interesting quotes or memorable phrases. Save those for later!

Reading for Critical Evidence

• Summarize a writer's ideas the best you can
• Evaluate the most important ideas of a piece (e.g. pros, cons, wording, examples)
• Identify gaps or issues in a writer's argument or presentation of material. (What needs to be filled in?)
• Examine the strategies a writer uses (e.g. style, image usage, figurative language, connections made, persuasive, informative)
• Include a second opinion or text (What other writers, ideas, or concepts may they include)
• Extend what the reading/writer is saying to better fit YOU (e.g. personality, background, major, skillset, etc).

Steps in our Writing/Research arsenal...

Steps in our Writing/Research arsenal...

From Irvin (7) - How would you answer the questions on the Left Column for your own interests/content? Major or Discipline? Hobby or Skills?

Class Writing Activity - Academic Writing Pointers, Week 1

• Navigating our Canvas Course, you will access in-class, homework, and major assignments by going to each Week's Page, clicking on the appropriate image.

• Today, you will start interacting with the readings and think about academic writing/research and your experiences with this. We will spend time unpacking our experiences connected to games & media for class and get to know our fellow classmates' thoughts and insights about the writing process.

• Create a User Profile! - Class Introductions

Final Week 1 Objectives

• In-Class Week 1 - Writing & Experiences

• A.I. Friday Forum #1

• Gamerz Corner Blog #1

• Our Friday Class sessions will tend to be more interactive with digital tools or building some of our research ideas related to gaming trends, technologies, content creators and media.
• These class sessions called A.I. Friday Forums will help us practice the ethical ways of gathering information and using these writing tools for beneficial reasons. These sessions could consist of research prompts where you use A.I. for
  • Finding key words/terms connected to our theme this week.
  • Potential research sources and articles to use.
  • Online sites, content creators, or stats about gaming.
  • New ideas for research direction.
  • A specific person or professional knowledgeable about a topic.
  • Practice with citation (SOURCE) of what you found useful.

As part of your homework response to readings/content, each week will have a different theme/topic to explore within research/literacy studies, gaming and popular culture trends. You will want to do the following for this week:

• Select an idea or concept from this week's readings and practice writing and applying what's important from the readings. Be sure to quote or directly reference (SOURCE) what idea you are pulling from. What made you select that idea? What does it connect with in your experience? What makes it a point of conversation, argument, or research?
• These are Homework Responses, but we will spend early class time interacting with others ideas.