Grading

Absences

You are expected to come to class on a regular basis. After two days or one week’s worth of unexplained absences your grade may be penalized.

Class Participation and Attendance (10% of Total Grade)

Class Participation

You are responsible for keeping up with the games and readings and contributing to class discussion. Points are earned for meaningful participation in class; points are deducted for disruptive behavior.

           

Classwork

Included in this grade are quizzes that serve to make sure that you are reading/playing on schedule and to take attendance, class activities and presentations other than the Mock Conference below.

Initial Response Papers (30% of Total Grade)

The purpose of the Initial Response Paper is to:

Preserve your initial reactions to the reading(s)/video(s)/game(s) assigned that day

Get you to practice discussing video games at an academic level

Get you to practice clear, precise, and coherent writing

Individual Response Papers need to meet the following requirements:

• Have a strong, coherent, and concise thesis based on at least two of the readings due that day
• Support the thesis with direct quote and/or paraphrase from the day's readings
• Have a title that reflects the thesis and themes of the paper
• Be at least one page long
• Be Double Spaced
• Be in Times New Roman 12pt Font
• Use correct MLA format, including in-text citations and works cited page(s)
• Be stapled
• Be submitted in hard copy and online
• Be submitted on time. No late work will be accepted.

Any Individual Response Papers not reaching these minimum requirements will not receive a grade higher than a “D+”.

You may include reading(s), video(s), and/or game(s) not assigned the day the Individual Response Paper is due, but the paper must primarily address the assigned works.

Abstract (10% of Total Grade)

Before you are allowed to present at an academic conference you submit a summary abstract to a Call For Papers (CFP). The purpose of this assignment is to get you used to writing these abstracts. You will receive a mock CFP midway through the semester and write an abstract to that CFP including a bibliography of 5-10 works you will use in the final conference paper.

As in a real conference, you will not be able to give a Mock Conference Presentation without submitting an abstract.

This abstract should:

• Have a strong, coherent, and concise thesis based on at least one class reading and 5-10 outside sources
• Support the thesis with direct quote and/or paraphrase from the readings
• Have a title that reflects the thesis and themes of the paper
• Be 250-500 words long
• Be Double Spaced
• Be in Times New Roman 12pt Font
• Use correct MLA format, including in-text citations and works cited page(s)
• Be submitted in hard copy and online
• Be stapled
• Be submitted on time. No late work will be accepted.
• Adhere to Swales CARS Model of academic research located at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tiYv89LoRQVkbMIR6Dk5FpeVUgljrVe80HBAQOu9i8M/edit

Mock Conference Participation (10% of Total Grade)

When a student is not presenting, you will be taking notes and asking intelligent questions at the end of the presentation. Each day, you will turn in a printed worksheet with your day’s notes for participation credit.

You do not have to write up a participation worksheet on the day that you present.

Mock Conference Presentation (10% of Total Grade) and Final Paper (30% of Total Grade)

The last few weeks of class will be dedicated to a mock conference in which students will present a 10 minute rough draft of their final conference paper.

Each day after the 3 or 4 students give their presentations, students in the audience will be given the chance to ask questions that the presenters must answer intelligently.

The final paper will be a 20 minute (8-10 page) conference-level paper analyzing a game or games and/or community of your choice and incorporating at least one class reading and 5-10 outside sources.

The final paper should be an extension/expansion of the presentation.

Both the in-class Mock Conference Presentation and the Final Paper must:

• Have a strong, coherent, and concise thesis based on the class readings and outside sources
• Support the thesis with direct quote and/or paraphrase from the readings/research
• Have a title that reflects the thesis and themes of the paper
• Be submitted on time. No late work will be accepted.

Turn In Options for the Final Paper:

Option 1: Traditional Paper

Many people bring and read a paper to conferences. You may type out an 8-10 page paper double spaced in Times New Roman Font. This paper must also include a works cited page and be in MLA format.

Option 2: Presentation

Since this paper is meant to be read at a conference, you may turn in a presentation in lieu of a typed paper. The presentation should be 18-20 minutes of discussion.

You may include footage of the game you wish to discuss but the footage should be:

• relevant 
• no longer than 4 minutes unless you talk over the footage

 You may use Power Point with embedded audio, Power Point with notes representing your speech, a text file with embedded images representing Power Point slides, video editing software, Prezi, an audio file created in Audacity, or any other method of recording your presentation.

Make sure that I can read the presentation on my laptop before turning it in.

This option must also include a works cited page in MLA format.