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Want to learn more about the research behind my project?  We've got 4 different ways to view it. 

Talk about catering to transliteracy!

Wehrley:    Home        Learn More        Standards        Inspiration        About the Author


Researching Video Games in English Language Arts

Do you want to know more about the science behind this topic?  But maybe you have a preference for how you like to take in information?  You're in luck!  We've got 4 different ways for you to experience these research results:
  • Video Summary: a short video covering the key findings of my research project
  • Summary Poster: the key ideas, the main findings, and some data in the form of tables and figures
  • Abstract From Researcher Paper: a little more technical, but you can scan it in 2 paragraphs
  • Full Research Paper: this is the full enchilada!  If you like reading academic articles, then this is the one for you!

Video

As we know from Universal Design, it's always great to have multimodal approaches to content!  Feel free to watch the video summary of my research project below (or click on this link to the video presentation)

Poster

This poster summarizes some of the most significant findings from my research.  You can see a larger version by clicking here.
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Abstract

Short on time?  Here is an excerpt from the Abstract of my research paper:

​Video games are multimodal texts that draw upon multiple literacies for making meaning.  They represent a potential tool for teaching in English language arts classrooms (ELA).  While more students may be exposed to video games outside of school, teachers in traditional ELA classrooms may not be equipped to utilize these potential texts.  Instead, many ELA curriculums focus on developing literacy primarily through reading and writing written texts, such as literature.  The use of video games in English classes may offer additional opportunities for developing student literacies.  However, research on how video games affect student understandings of narratives is still relatively new.

​The purpose of this study was to explore what impact creating interactive narrative video games had on student understandings of narratives.  In this study, the researcher instructed students to complete a brainstorming slide, a text-only narrative, and an interactive narrative game.  The researcher then analyzed student self-reflections, student peer feedback assessments, and student reading comprehension test scores to assess the impact that these activities had on student thinking concerning narratives.  Study results indicate that students tended to reference mediums other than literature more often when seeking inspiration.  When rating the presence of narrative elements in text-only narratives and interactive narrative games created by their peers, students tended to rate text-only narratives and interactive narrative games at similar levels.  Student reading comprehension test scores also improved over the course of the study.  This study may have implications for how teachers can use video games in class instruction, activities, and assessments.

Full Paper

Not short on time?  Or just really into reading research papers?  Either way, feel free to check out the full research paper below:
wehrley_kelly_-_research_paper.pdf
File Size: 1456 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


Literature Review Table

If you loved reading my research paper, then you may enjoy digging into the academic articles that I referenced.  You can find more details about them in the document below:
  • Literature review references with notes and quotes

IRB Approval Letter

And just to show that everything is official and by-the-book, you can see my approval letter from the Institutional Review Board:
kwehrley_irb_approval_letter.pdf
File Size: 106 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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