The personal literacy experiences English Language Arts (ELA) teachers have are an important factor in shaping their pedagogical
thinking about literacy. More research is needed, however, on the relationship between literacy experiences and pedagogical thinking for
preservice teachers implementing new literacies such as transmedia stories. Transmedia stories are an emerging twenty-first century
storytelling form in which a narrative is told over multiple texts and media platforms and is often extended further by reader contributions.
Theoretical research has suggested that transmedia stories can be used in the ELA classroom to teach both traditional literacies and 21st
century literacies. While researchers, scholars, and educators have begun to theorize about how such stories might benefit literacy and ELA
education, little empirical research exists as to how these narratives are perceived by teachers and how this new literacy might actually be
implemented in a classroom. Research is needed on how preservice ELA teachers engage with transmedia stories and how this relates to their
perceptions of teaching this new literacy. The current study addressed this research need by investigating how preservice ELA teachers
perceived, read, and created transmedia stories and how they saw implementing these texts in an ELA classroom. Specifically, this study
asked: 1) In what ways does engaging with a transmedia story influence how preservice ELA teachers perceive transmedia stories?; 2) In what
ways does reading a transmedia story influence how preservice ELA teachers perceive implementing transmedia stories in the classroom?; and 3)
In what ways does creating a transmedia extension text influence how preservice ELA teachers perceive implementing transmedia stories in the
classroom? To investigate these questions, the study used Hawley-Turner and Hicks’ (2015) Connected Reading Model as a theoretical framework
to conceptualize transmedia stories as a new literacy that encourages different ways of encountering, engaging with, and evaluating texts. An
exploratory case study design was used, and data were collected from ten preservice ELA teachers in a purposefully selected course on
adolescent literacy and young adult literature through a pre-and post-survey, reading logs, a reflection, a participant-created transmedia
extension text, a visual map of reading, an individual interview, and a focus group. The data sources were analyzed through inductive,
deductive, and focused coding. From this analysis, the study found that the preservice teachers perceived transmedia stories as enjoyable,
immersive, interactive, creative, and social and saw implementing these stories in an ELA classroom to: engage students; develop
technological and media literacy; scaffold to canonical literature; and develop comprehension, literary analysis, and writing skills. While
the preservice teachers experienced transmedia story engagement as a new literacy and were optimistic about the new possibilities afforded by
such engagement, these results suggest that the preservice teachers most often perceived implementing these texts as tools to scaffold to the
standards and goals of a traditional ELA curriculum and were less likely to integrate transmedia storytelling as a transformative new
literacy defined by the new ethos elements they experienced and identified. These findings reflect research on how teachers often leverage
new literacies to teach a traditional curriculum. The findings also suggest that preservice teachers negotiate between experience and
ideology when implementing new literacies, sifting through their personal literacy experiences for where these experiences align with their
existing education ideologies when thinking about how to implement new literacies. Building on such research, the study aims to contribute to
transmedia studies research, teacher education research, and the field of English Education by investigating how the sample of preservice ELA
teachers engaged with and perceived teaching transmedia stories and by paving the way for future empirical research on transmedia stories,
new literacy implementation, and preservice teacher education. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Teacher Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2017. / August 31, 2017. / english education, new literacies, preservice teachers, teacher education, transmedia stories / Includes bibliographical references. / Shelbie Witte, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Sherry Southerland, Professor Co-Directing
Dissertation; Don Latham, University Representative; John Myers, Committee Member; Melissa Gross, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_605000 |
| Contributors | Overstreet, Rikki Joelle (author), Witte, Shelbie (professor co-directing dissertation), Southerland, Sherry A., 1962- (professor co-directing dissertation), Latham, Don, 1959- (university representative), Myers, John P. (John Patrick) (committee member), Gross, Melissa (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Education (degree granting college), School of Teacher Education (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (286 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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