English Pedagogy Showcase
The EPS is an annual symposium that displays posters representing English instructors’ innovative pedagogy and research. This year, one virtual poster will be awarded ‘Best in Show’ and a monetary award of $250. Runners-up will be awarded $100.
Special thanks to our volunteer judges Brian Leung, Kristina Bross, Michael Johnston, Jen Hughes, Tom Huston, and Michael Mutti.
We invite everyone to provide constructive feedback on the posters with this Qualtrics form. We will share it with presenters in early May.
Poster Presentations, Spring 2020
Title: All Games Teach: Mass-market Games in Higher-Education Classrooms
Presenter: Victoria Braegger
Abstract:
Building on McAllister’s (2004) claim that play is “always instructive,” this poster places Vygotsky (1978) in conversation with Crocco et al. (2016) to argue against gamification of learning objectives and in favor of using play in classrooms to facilitate learning abstract ideas about complex topics. Gamification should not be the goal of game-based learning and when games are considered for educational purposes, they should be carefully scaffolded with learning objectives. This poster discusses a case study scaffolding a mass-market popular game, SuperFight, into a research unit to complement a lecture on using strong sources to support thesis statements.
Video:
Title: Tutoring L2 Writers: Strategies for Confidence Building-up
Presenter: Jianfen Chen
Abstract:
Tutoring L2 Writers: Strategies for Confidence Building-up The speaker shares her personal experiences and strategies of boosting L2 writers’ confidence in English writing in face to face sessions at Purdue’s Writing Lab. Many L2 writers lack confidence in English writing due to being afraid of making mistakes. Given that confidence plays a key role in enhancing L2 writers’ interest and passion to write in English, the speaker gives priority to enhancing their confidence in English writing when tutoring L2 writers. Her strategies include offering positive comments on good writing whenever possible; being patient and encouraging L2 writers to spot their writing issues; appreciating L2 writers’ effort in writing etc.
Video:
Title: "He's a Wolf!"—Social Deception Games in the Composition Classroom
Presenter: Alisha KarabinUs
Abstract:
This poster examines the benefit of social deception games in the composition classroom as an exploration of audience awareness and argument construction.
Video:
Title: Facilitating Autonomous Writing Practices through Genre and Move Analysis
Presenter: Kyle Lucas
Abstract:
This poster presents genre and move analysis in the English for Specific Purposes tradition as a valuable rhetorical construct to teach professional writers. The poster first defines "genre" and "move" within this tradition. Next, it shows how these constructs can be taught and applied in professional writing contexts. To this end, the poster presents a teaching-learning cycle as well as a model activity. The poster concludes by addressing a few concerns about this approach as well as some nuances in instruction that can address such worries.
Video:
Title: Social Entrepreneurship: A Frame for Business Writing
Presenter: Allegra Smith
Abstract:
This poster describes the goals and deliverables of an ENGL 420 (Business Writing) course themed around social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurs seek to conduct “business as if people mattered,” creating positive social change through commercial enterprise. The poster will provide background information on social entrepreneurship, sample applications from student projects and real-life businesses, student reflections on the major concepts from course memos and evaluations, and an outline of major assignments linked with the framework, including a final course project that asks students to pitch a social or cultural innovation for a specific market segment, in the style of television’s Shark Tank.
Video: