Limed: Teaching with a Twist
Season 2, Episode 2

William “Quayd” Snell teaches Rhetoric, Argumentation, and other writing courses at Sinclair Community College and Wright State University. Over the years, he has developed the “Try a Claim Game,” a board game that requires students to walk through the steps of argumentation and interact with each other to improve their rhetorical skills. Sophie Miller, Elon University Senior and Center for Engaged Learning Student Scholar, Pratheep Paranthaman, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Coordinator of the Game Design Minor at Elon University, and Shane Wood, Associate Professor of English and Director of First-Year Composition at the University of Central Florida discuss Quayd’s board game and suggest ideas to improve the game and align it with learning outcomes. The panel also discuss ways in which games can make learning fun and engaging that can translate to other fields and learning goals. 

View a transcript of this episode.

This episode was hosted by Matt Wittstein and edited by Jeremiah Timberlake and Matt Wittstein. Limed: Teaching with a Twist is produced by Matt Wittstein in collaboration with Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning.

About the Guest

William Quayd Snell is an English instructor at Sinclair Community College and Wright State University. Lately, most of his energy has gone into developing the Try a Claim Game, and he plans to spend even more time in the future to continue its development. In his spare time, Quayd practices Street Epistemology, which is a conversation technique that involves talking to individuals in the public – usually about controversial topics – in a civil manner to understand how they came to believe certain things and to help cause reflection on their epistemological methods. With Street Epistemology International, an organization with the mission of “addressing dysfunction in public and private discourse by encouraging rationality through civil conversation and providing people around the world with the resources needed to develop, practice, and promote Street Epistemology,” he has helped develop a course over the past couple of years, and the launch date of the first batch of modules is November 15^th, 2023. You can learn about his many other projects on his LinkedIn profile:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-snell-7b657a141/ 

About the Panel

Sophie Miller is a fourth-year student at Elon University studying Psychology with minors in Early Childhood Education as well as Adventure Based Learning. As a CEL Student Scholar with the Center for Engaged Learning, she provides a student perspective on a three-year research seminar on Re-Examining Conditions for Meaningful Learning Experiences. Additionally, as a Lumen Scholar; she is conducting a research project examining How Children and Teachers Co-Facilitate Inquiry and Reflection Outdoors.  

Pratheep Paranthaman is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science and the coordinator of the Game Design minor at Elon University. Pratheep is currently managing the Game Design Minor program, where he teaches game design and development courses while also overseeing capstone projects. His research interests include brain-computer interface, mixed reality, virtual reality, games user research, human-computation games, and artificial intelligence. Prior to joining Elon, he worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer at Northeastern University, Boston, MA. During his post-doc research phase, he developed a system called ARAPID (As Rapid As Possible Iterative Design) to streamline the video game playtesting process.  

Panelist Member #3 – Shane Wood is an Associate Professor and Director of First-Year Composition at the University of Central Florida. His research interests include writing assessment, multimodality, and writing program administration. His book, Teachers Talking Writing: Perspectives on Places, Pedagogies, and Programs, is a collection of conversations about the theory and teaching of writing in postsecondary contexts in the 21st century. He hosts a podcast called Pedagogue where he talks with teachers across the nation about their pedagogies and practices in the writing classroom. 

Resources Related to this Episode

William “Quayd” Snell has developed this game and has shared it through the following resources that would allow you to play the game: Try a Claim Game Prezi (includes click-through instructions and board), Claimer Cards, Critic Cards, and an example worksheet he uses to supplement student learning. 

“Gamification and Game-Based Learning.” Centre for Teaching Excellence, August 21, 2023. https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/catalogs/tip-sheets/gamification-and-game-based-learning.  

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