Student Inquiry in New Media :
Abstract New media such as video games and Internet technologies provide college composition students with ample opportunity for inquiry-based learning in the technology-rich writing classroom. Because Information Communication Technologies, including video games, are constantly growing and changing, students can replicate and revise previous research studies, even recently published studies. This pedagogical approach asks students to build on empirical studies and emphasizes active, inquiry-based learning, engaging in primary research that tests prior knowledge and contributes new knowledge. Through the use of empirical methods such as content analysis, case study, and ethnography, students can engage in careful readings and interpretation of new media and their own interaction with it, fostering "critical media literacy" (Kellner, 2000). In this article, I outline an inquiry-based pedagogy focusing on video games, describe a model content analysis of gender and video games in the mid 1990s by Dr. Tracy Dietz, who is a sociology and anthopology professor at University of South Florida, and examine three student research projects that replicate and extend Dietz's analysis. I argue that new technologies such as video games provide techno-savvy students with a fertile field for constructing new knowledge through scholarship. Home | Abstract | Introduction | Methodology | Student Projects | Conclusion | References
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