Metagames 2023
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Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Ohio State University Libraries
Abstract
This paper, co-authored by undergraduate students and their instructor part of an
educational psychology seminar, describes a participatory curriculum design approach
for preservice teacher education that focuses on the use of the principles of second-order
cybernetics to teach about teaching and learning. Using elements of an Open
Source Educational Processes framework, our Spring ESEPSY2309 section created
project-based collective hive minds of preservice teachers, relying on a cybernetic
approach at the crossroads of Gregory Bateson and Gordon Pask's theories. The
classroom community used four innovative tool-mediated pillars to guide collaborative
activity: 1) Live-chatting using the Reddit social media platform, 2) observation of the
lives, strategies, and practices used by teachers and students in their own social
networks through Soundcloud podcasting to expand their own perceptions of
pedagogies and best practices that they could employ in their careers, 3) open-ended
paper writing, exploring sources beyond the object language provided by the textbook
through extensive dyadic conversations with the instructor, and 4) training in the use of
the Alice 3 game creation tool for block programming enabling the accumulation of
competence in designing classroom systems that may treat students these
undergraduates would soon teach as active historical agents in learning environments,
combining skills from varied subjects into transdisciplinary educational experiences. We
showcase outcomes of our class projects using a narrative inquiry to describe podcast
episodes, a topic network analysis to illustrate the expansive nature of Open Source
writing activity, and a visual depiction of our class Alice 3 games.