Browsing by Author "Champ, Joe, committee member"

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Embargo
Affective Atmospheres: cultural models for interactive narratives
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Callendar, Chaz L., author; Arthur, Tori, advisor; Champ, Joe, committee member; Humphrey, Mike, committee member; Romagni, Domenica, committee member; Aronis, Carolin, committee member
In this dissertation, I introduce a new model which I call Affective Atmospheres. This theoretical model aids in the understanding of interactive models found in video games by considering video games as systems of affordances. These systems reflect cultural ideology and work together to create emotional structures that players use to co-create narratives in games. These models focus on the emotional and narrative tensions created through gameplay and how players embodying the role structured by the game understand the story through feelings rather than the sequence of events in a story, allowing for the analysis of interactive narratives, like video games, as a text. To showcase Affective Atmosphere, I use Critical Technocultural Discourse analysis to reveal how the expected co-constructions of two video game characters, Sister Friede from Dark Souls 3 and Edelgard from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, transgress patriarchal norms in fantasy video games. This case study showcases how Affective Atmosphere allows a researcher to "read" the interactive affordances of video games as a text and how cultural ideologies are embedded deep within the co-construction of video game experiences.
Open Access
Factors influencing agency staff's willingness to adopt collaborative public participation techniques in the NEPA decision-making process
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Roberts, Peggy Cochran, author; Christen, Cindy, advisor; Champ, Joe, committee member; Bright, Alan, committee member
Today, U.S. government agencies face complex environmental issues and decisions. These issues involve diverse stakeholders with a broad spectrum of interests and concerns. While public participation has conceptually evolved over the years, many agencies continue to rely on the traditional public participation techniques such as the public meeting. However, both the public and agencies have been less than satisfied with the results of traditional public participation. A trend towards implementing collaborative public participation techniques has been embraced by the U.S. government in environmental decision-making. However, based on the literature and observation, collaborative public participation is rarely implemented in the decision-making process. This study reviewed the factors that either encourage or discourage agency staff from adopting collaborative public participation techniques, specifically in the NEPA decision-making process. Eleven semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with environmental managers and public affairs representatives from Western Area Power Administration, U.S. Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. This study evaluated these factors and identified potential relationships between the factors and the willingness to adopt collaborative techniques. Agency culture was identified as the primary factor influencing agency staff to adopt collaborative public participation techniques. An agency culture that is service-oriented supports collaborative processes, and in turn, encourages training and education about the appropriate use of collaboration. Further, while there is a direct effect of agency culture on willingness to adopt collaborative techniques, the study identified a potential indirect effect of agency culture on other factors. Cost to implement a collaborative public participation programs and federal regulations were found to be encouraging factors, rather than discouraging factors as previously identified in the literature. The study found that with the cost reimbursement program and new technology, cost was not a hindrance to using collaboration. Also, threats to the agency's decision-making authority were not validated because the regulations secure this authority. Two new factors affecting agency decisions to use collaboration emerged from the study that warrants further research. The relationship between agency culture and the individual's mindset and how these factors influence the use of collaboration provides opportunities for future research. Also, additional studies should explore how staff determines the appropriate level of participation for their projects. Are they unaware of other techniques or are they misapplying techniques based on the scope or type of project? Collaboration is an extension of our democratic culture and when appropriately applied can be an effective means for resolving our environmental concerns. Without fear of losing decision-making authority, this study found that agency staff support alternative approaches to assist them in making sound decisions.
Open Access
Mind over machine? The clash of agency in social media environments
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) McConnell, Stephen J., author; Kodrich, Kris, advisor; Wolfgang, David, committee member; Champ, Joe, committee member; Williams, Elizabeth A., committee member; Opsal, Tara, committee member
Underlying many social media platforms are choice recommendation "nudging" architectures designed to give users instant content and social recommendations to keep them engaged. Powered by complex algorithms, these architectures flush people's feeds and an array of other features with fresh content and create a highly individualized experience tailored to their interests. In a critical realist qualitative study, this research examines how individual agency manifests when users encounter these tools and the suggestions they provide. In interviews and focus groups, 45 participants offered their experiences where they reflected on how they perceived the engines, e.g., their Facebook feed, influenced their actions and behaviors, as well as how the participants felt they controlled it to achieve personal aims. Based on these and other experiences, this study posits the Social Cognitive Machine Agency Dynamic (SCMAD) model, which provides an empirically supported explanatory framework to explain how individual agency can manifest and progress in response to these tools. The model integrates Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory concepts and emergent findings. It demonstrates how users react to the engines through agentic expressions not dissimilar to the real-world, including enacting self-regulatory, self-reflective and intentionality processes, as well as other acts not captured by Bandura's theory. Ultimately, the research and model propose a psycho-environmental explanation of the swerves of agency experienced by users in reaction to the unique conditions and affordances of these algorithmically driven environments. The study is the first known extension of social cognitive theory to this technology context. Implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations for future research provided. The study recommends that future research and media discourse aim for an individual-level psychological evaluation of these powerful technologies. This stance will afford a greater understanding of the technology's impacts and implications on individuals, particularly as it is anticipated to significantly evolve in the coming years.
Open Access
Re/designing the writing center to support technical literacy initiatives
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Getty, Matt, author; Amidon, Tim, advisor; Champ, Joe, committee member; Langstraat, Lisa, committee member
Technology pervades most aspects of life and a level of technical prowess is all but required to participate in modern society. The increasing emphasis on STEM initiatives and "learning to code" often focuses on functional literacies and not, as Selber (2004) noted, "...on critical literacy as teachers of writing and communication think of" (p. 74). What is at stake in a critical technical literacy? Noble (2018) said in Algorithms of Oppression that "design[ing] technology for people without a detailed and rigorous study of people and communities, makes for the many kinds of egregious tech designs we see" (p. 70) and that "now more than ever, we need experts in the social sciences and digital humanities to engage in dialogue" (p. 13)—a technical dialogue, about how technologies are developed. Writing studies and writing center studies could find it beneficial to embrace new definitions of composing and technology rather than wait for them to make inroads to these fields. This study first recognizes how writing has grown beyond the conventional. Digital composing covers a broad spectrum from writing blog posts, designing websites, using photoshop, creating podcasts, and writing code. Vee (2017) argued in Coding Literacy that "[w]riting and programming are creative acts yet we've tried to label programming as engineering" (p. 123), and this study tries to understand what labeling programming as a form of writing alongside other digital composing ultimately means for places where writing takes place. This study focuses on writing centers, and seeks to extend Pemberton's (2003) four suggestions for "Planning for Hypertext in the Writing Center...Or Not" which suggested that writing centers can treat hypertexts (digital composing) like any other text, assume hypertext will not come into the writing center, use specialized tutors, or provide tutor training in order to serve students who enter the writing center looking to get assistance on these types of composing assignments. In order to do this, this study collected data from participatory design focus group sessions as well as from writing center (and similar space) websites. The data was coded into five different codes: Access / Technology, Discovery / Outreach, Career Readiness, Training, and Curriculum / Coursework. Comments in these categories were analyzed to identify how individual actors—students, writing centers, institutions—function to help or hinder students who engage with the writing center with digital composing. This study suggests that unless users believe they could be successful in engaging with the writing center with digital composing, it is unlikely that any of Pemberton's (2003) four suggestions will ever be relevant. While a successful engagement with digital composing could result from the use of typical writing center pedagogies, this needs to be clear to prospective users who may believe they require consultants and spaces with high levels of technical ability to help in their digital composing. This study suggests that peripheral texts—texts that suggest how a user can interact with a space—are one key area where the writing center could exercise its own agency and help users understand both that they can, and how they can engage with the writing center with digital composition and technology. Curricular and institutional changes may also aid in the re centering of the writing center to better support technical literacy initiatives throughout the university.