Daily Update: Jan 12

Steady as she goes... I'm continuing to see good interaction, thoughtful responses to the readings, and some candid reflections on how looking at games in a new light has led to new insights and encouraged you to make connections and ask new questions.

Koster and Laurel reading quizzes

• I have one more Koster question to write, and then I will post the final set of questions for "A Theory of Fun."
• I've posted a set for Laurel; they are in two parts, so you don't feel rushed, but the division line for the questions is not necessarily the line that divides the selections that I assigned.   I'd rather you approach the whole set with the whole book finished.

Grades

On Turnitin.com, you should see a running total of your grade so far. It takes a bit longer to mark the longer papers you've been writing, so I'm still working on some of your recent submissions, but I aim to catch up in the next day or two.

Bibliography Assignment

The upcoming bibliography assignment is your chance to check your sources with me before you commit to using them in an academic paper. 

• Using Google to search for your favorite game is NOT going to yield good results. It's much better to start with a library database that you can restrict to peer-reviewed sources, OR
• Look at the bibliography of any of the essays in our collection, and look up the individual articles cited as credible sources.  OR
• I also found a video game bibliography created by students in Zach Walen's video game course at the University of Mary Washington. If you set the "Type" to journal article, book, book chapter, conference paper, or thesis, you are very likely to find valuable scholarly materials.

If, after completing this assignment, you feel you want to change your topic, that's fine with me.  You are welcome to think of Ex 5 as your first step to starting your final project, or you can just pick an easy topic in order to get it done quickly.  Either way, you'll be demonstrating your ability to find credible sources.

New discussion topic:

My Games Research Story