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Concordia University Concordia celebrates 50 years!
Concordia University Concordia celebrates 50 years!

Lab for Innovation in Teaching and Learning

Lab for Innovation in Teaching and Learning

The Minecraft project –
Video Games and/as Theory

An implementation/exploration in how to teach an undergraduate English course, entirely within the game of Minecraft. 

The project was a collaboration between:

Results and impact

97
students over 3 terms

3
case studies

2
instructors

16+
Researchers including four student co-researchers

Project scope

In the midst of the pandemic-era Zoom fatigue, this project was initiated as an implementation/exploration on how to make use of Minecraft to teach an undergraduate English course, entirely within the game.

The fully flipped classroom made use of a custom-designed game world, a number of game mods as well as readings. The class lectures were done in the form of podcasts.

Project lifecycle

This project was initiated in January 2021 and ran for three terms.

N.B.: While the part of this project that benefitted directly from LITL’s involvement has now concluded, the research is ongoing and the project has since grown and evolved thanks to multi-year federal Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) funding.

Key players and people

Primary researchers

  • Darren Wershler
  • Bart Simon
  • Stuart Thiel

Research team

  • Nic Watson (Concordia)
  • Jim Slotta (University of Toronto, SALTISE)
  • Elizabeth Charles (Dawson College, SALTISE)
  • Joel Wiebe (University of Toronto)
  • Gina Haraszti (Concordia)
  • Remi Arora (LITL – Concordia)
  • Rob Cassidy (ex-Concordia)

  • Angelica Calcagnile (undergraduate, Concordia)
  • Nat Torre (undergraduate, Concordia, graduated Winter 2022)
  • Andrew Rochon (undergraduate, Concordia)
  • Theodore Fox (undergraduate, Concordia) 

  • Richy Srirachikorn (graduate student researcher, Concordia)
  • Derek Nyborg (graduate student researcher, Concordia)

  • Isabella Byrne
Visit TAG MINECRAFT BLOC

Outcomes

  • Calcagnile, Angelica, Theodore Fox, Andrew Rochon, Nat Torre. "Moloch’s Gauntlet: Undergraduate Experiments in Minecraft for Pedagogy." Connected Learning Summit, online, October 26, 2023.
  • Wershler, Darren and Bart Simon, "The Fun Palace SMP: Minecraft + Cultural Technique + Allegory." German Studies Association 47th annual conference, Montreal, October 8, 2023.
  • Calcagnile, Angelica, Theodore Fox, Andrew Rochon, Nat Torre. "Escaping Moloch’s Gauntlet: Undergraduate Pedagogical Perspectives in Minecraft." Canadian Game Studies Association (CGSA) Top Papers presentation. Canadian Game Studies Association, online, October 5, 2023.
  • Wershler, Darren, with Stuart Thiel and Bart Simon, "Three Semesters in Minecraft: Lessons Learned from a Fully Flipped Online Class." SALTISE 2023, Concordia University, Montreal, June 13, 2023.
  • Calcagnile, Angelica, Theodore Fox, Andrew Rochon, Nat Torre. "Escaping Moloch’s Gauntlet: Undergraduate Pedagogical Perspectives in Minecraft." Canadian Game Studies Association (CGSA) Conference 2023. Canadian Game Studies Association, online, June 9, 2023. Awarded "Most Creative Paper"
  • Srirachanikorn, Richy. “The Allegorical Build: Material Allegories and Minecraft.” Social Science Humanities Research Council’s The Storytellers Competition, York University, May 29, 2023.
  • Wershler, Darren, and Bart Simon. “Rattletrap Platforms: Modded Minecraft and Digital Pedagogy.” Digital Pedagogy Institute, Ryerson University, August 9, 2022. [notes] [slides]
  • Calcagnile, Angelica, Theodore Fox, Andrew Rochon, Nat Torre. “Moloch’s Gauntlet: Escape to Modernity.” In the Middle, A Chimera: The Milieu End-of-Year Exhibition & Symposium. Milieux Institute, Montreal, May 13, 2022. [slides]
  • Wershler, Darren, and Bart Simon. “Minecraft as Classroom II: Refamiliarization.” SALTISE. Moving Forward Together: Opportunities and Challenges for Pedagogical Innovation. Virtual conference 2021. Montreal, June 3, 2021. [notes] [slides]