Jeffrey S. Bryan

Education

Teaching

Post-Secondary

Adjunct Professor (Spring 2023) Saddleback College

Courses

History of Animation

Motion Graphics

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Adjunct Professor (Spring 2018) Irvine Valley College

Course

Introduction to Game Design

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Graduate Teaching Assistant (Fall 2017 - present) University of California, Irvine

Courses

Roleplaying and Improvisational Play (ToR: Aaron Trammell); Winter 2023

Visual Design Fundamentals (ToR: Constance Steinkuehler); Fall 2022

Game Design (ToR: Craig Morrison); Spring 2020 & 2021

Capstone Game Project (A&B) (ToR: Tess Tanenbaum); Fall 2019 & 2020, Winter 2020 & 2021

Human Computer Interaction (ToR: Matthew Bietz); Summer 2020

Multiplayer Games (ToR: Kurt Squire); Spring 2018

Game Design (ToR: Kurt Squire); Winter 2018

Global Disruption and Information Technology (ToR: Juliet Norton); Fall 2017

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Digital Arts Teacher (Fall 2018 - present) College and Career Advantage

• Courses articulated through Saddleback College​

     San Clemente High School (2019 - Present)

Courses

2D Animation

3D Animation

Game Design

Esports

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     Capistrano Valley High​ School (2018-2019)

Course

Game Design

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Digital Arts Instructor (Fall 2017 - Spring 2020) New Vista Tech Academy

• Taught college courses to recently graduated students with autism, helping them transition to college

• Courses articulated through Saddleback College* or Irvine Valley College†

Courses

Introduction to Computer Graphics*

Introduction to Game Design†

Digital Animation*

History of Animation*

Writing and Storyboarding for Games†

3D Modeling for Games†

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Secondary

Digital Arts Teacher (Fall 2014 – Spring 2017) Covington Middle School and Fine Arts Academy

• Recipient of the “Teacher of Promise” new teacher of the year award

• Campus Innovation Coach, helping modernize teaching practices on campus

Courses

Videogame Design I & II

Web Design

Multimedia Production I & II: Animation & Digital Video

Visual Media

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Technology Assistant/Teacher (Fall 2013 – Spring 2014) Hill Country Middle School

• Assisted teachers with technology needs at a one-to-one iPad school, and taught two technology courses

Courses

HCTV (Television Production and Digital Streaming)

Tech Club

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Technology Teacher (Fall 2013) Akins High School​

Courses

Programming

Advanced Programming

Web Technologies

Computer Maintenance and Repair

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Research

Curriculum Design

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Secondary and Post-Secondary Course Design (2014 - Present)

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Curriculum Philosophies

All courses were designed from the ground up according to the following philosophies:

• Social Constructivism

• Project-Based

• Hybrid Classroom

• Mastery Learning

• Studio Habits of Mind

• Media Literacies

• Equitable & Sustainable Materials

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& Design

Technologies

All courses are designed to be platform agnostic, focusing on artistic skill development rather than tool expertise

As such, I have experience with a large variety of tools, software suites, and development engines including

• Game Engines (Scratch, Twine, Unity, etc.)

• Animation Software (Adobe Animate, ToonBoom, Blender, etc.)

• 3D Modeling (Blender, Maya, Unity, etc.)

• Digital Drawing (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, GIMP, Pixlr, etc.)

• Video Editing (Adobe Premier, Adobe After Effects, iMovie, etc.)

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I am not an expert in any of the listed tools, but neither am I afraid to incorporate unknown tools into my curriculum — the tools aren't the point or the focus

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I also have extensive experience moving physical courses to online platforms, and moving online courses into physical classrooms

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Division of Teaching Excellence & Innovation Summer Fellowship (2021) University of California, Irvine, Graduate Division

• Assisted professors with translating their in-person courses to an online format

• Assisted professors with re-evaluating course assignments and lessons to best suit an online format

• Provided curriculum and pedagogical advice for online learning methods

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Consultant (2016) for Code.org

• Provided pedagogy consultation for their hour of code initiative for middle and high school audiences

• Reviewed student-led and teacher-led activities and lessons, and lesson plans

• Advised on improvements and redesigns

Consultant (2016) for Gamilearning 

• Evaluated Curriculum and designed a scope and sequence for the project

• Advised on using games in the classroom

• Advised on gamification challenges and opportunities

Academic Research

Karaoke Participant Observation (2018 - Present) research in preparation for my dissertation, UCI

• Performed participant observation of karaoke play and the associated communities of play

• Participated in over 1000 hours of karaoke play all over the world, though mostly in Orange County, CA 

• Assessed the play characteristics and experiences of karaoke through a phenomenological evaluation of the activity and its associated performance paradigms, using a game studies lens

• Compared against prior evaluations of karaoke in academic literature and contemporary culture

Graduate Research Assistant (2017 - Present) for Dr. Tess Tanenbaum, UCI, Transformative Play Lab

• Researched play cultures and play theories

• Established play research methodologies and publication strategies
• Assisted with the administration of the Global Game Jam hosted at UCI

Graduate Research Assistant (2011-2013) for Dr. Tris Utschig, CETL, Georgia Tech

• Evaluated higher education research and performed data analyses

• Wrote literature reviews and co-authored several papers

• Prepared and managed the Course/Instructor Opinion Survey

Professor’s Assistant (2005-2006) for Dr. James Aton, Southern Utah University

• Compiled notes and generated digital transcripts

• Performed academic research for professor’s publications

Game Design

Game Design Teacher/Instructor/Professor (2013 - Present)

Covington Middle School, New Vista Career Academy, Irvine Valley College, College and Career Advantage, University of California - Irvine

• Taught hundreds of students foundational and advanced game design concepts

• Guided teams of adolescents, teenagers, and young adults toward the successful creation of working game prototypes and demos

• Taught basics in physical and digital design, art asset production and pipeline, animating for games, narrative development, storyboarding for games, rudimentary programming, and 2D & 3D systems use

• Worked in coordination with industry experts and highly regarded academics in the field of game design and game studies

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Design Consultant (2021 -2022) KNMT Entertainment 

• Provided game design consultation for a fledgling karaoke entertainment service

• Evaluated design heuristics according to my research into the play properties of public karaoke

• Helped develop a consistent practice of methods and goals toward growing a consistent community of engaged players

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Design Consultant (2019) Kevin Karaoke 

• Provided game design consultation for a veteran karaoke entertainment service toward the development of a combination burlesque and karaoke show

• Evaluated design heuristics according to my research into the play properties of public karaoke

• Evaluated potential combinations of play characteristics between burlesque and karaoke and advised on best practices

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Publications
& Presentations

Book Chapter

Bryan, J.S. (2013). “Ergodic Effort: Dynamism and Auto-Generated Path-Making.” Terms of Play: Essays on Words that Matter in Videogame Theory. Ed. Zach Waggoner

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Peer-Reviewed Journals & Proceedings

Tanenbaum, T., N. Hartoonian, and J.S. Bryan (2020). "'How do I make this thing smile?': An Inventory of Expressive Nonverbal Communication in Social Virtual Reality." CHI 2020 Conference Proceedings.

Bryan, J.S., F. Bryan, and Q. Bryan (2019). "Play and Performance: Confronting Vulnerability through Performance." Well-Played Intergenerational Play Special Edition. 

Bryan, J.S., and T. Tanenbaum (2019). “Adapting the Empty Orchestra: Performance of Play in Karaoke." 2019 DiGRA Annual Conference Proceedings.

Norback, J.S., T.T. Utschig, and J.S. Bryan (2013). “Insights into the Process of Building a Presentation Scoring System for Engineers.” 2013 ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings.

Utschig, T.T., S.M. Newton, and J.S. Bryan (2012). “Measuring Skills across the Profile of a Quality Learner and of a Quality Engineer." International Journal of Process Education, 4(1), 3-12.

Norback, J.S., T.T. Utschig, and J.S. Bryan (2012). “Workforce Communication Instruction: Preliminary Inter-rater Reliability Data for an Executive-based Oral Communication Rubric.” 2012 ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings.

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Conference Presentations

Bryan, Jeffrey, "Kinky Karaoke: Karaoke and the Cultural Politics of Performing Identity" (2020). The International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts, Orlando, FL. (Canceled due to pandemic)

Bryan, Jeffrey, “No Fun Karaoke” (2019). Annual Meeting for the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts, Irvine, CA.

Bryan, Jeffrey “Adapting the Empty Orchestra: Performance of Play in Karaoke" (2019). Digital Games Research Association, Kyoto, Japan.

Bryan, Jeffrey, “Videogame Discussion Panel: The State of the Medium” (2018). Panel Member. The International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts, Orlando, FL.

Bryan, Jeffrey, “The True Monster: A Frankensteinian Undertale” (2018). The International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts, Orlando, FL.

Bryan, Jeffrey, “Twisting Time: The Ludonarrative of Nonlinearity in Braid” (2017). Annual Meeting for the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts, Tempe, AZ

Bryan, Jeffrey, “The Personal Player Epic: FFXI, MMOs, and the Boundaries of the Player Narrative” (2017). The International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts, Orlando, FL.  

Bryan, Jeffrey, “The Long Walk toward the Digital Path” (2016). The International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts, Orlando, FL.

Bryan, Jeffrey, “Minecraft in the Classroom: Machinima” (2016). AISD Innovation Summit, Austin, TX

Bryan, Jeffrey, “The Digital Arts and Interactive Storytelling in the Classroom” (2015). AISD Innovation Summit, Austin, TX

Bryan, Jeffrey, “Videogame Spacetime: Experiences in Dimensional Thought” (2015). International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts, Orlando, FL.

Bryan, Jeffrey, et al. Quietus (2014). Different Games Conference, New York, NY.

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Guest Speaker

Bryan, Jeffrey. "Animation for Games" (2022) University of California, Irvine

Bryan, Jeffrey.  Interviewed by Chris DeLeon (2020) HomeTeam Game Dev

Bryan, Jeffrey. “What is Game Studies?” (2017) Palm Beach State College 

Bryan, Jeffrey. “Teaching Videogames in the Classroom.” (2015) University of Texas: Austin 

Bryan, Jeffrey. “Classroom Management.” (2009) Southwest Applied Technology Vocational College

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Leadership

Campus Innovation Coach (2015-2017) Covington Middle School, AISD

Google CS Mentor (2015-2016) Covington Middle School, AISD

Minecraft Education Influencer (2014-2015) Microsoft Education

Vice President (2009-2010) Center for Inquiry, Southern Utah University

Non-traditional Student Senate Representative (2004-2005) Northwest College

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Certifications

Arts, Media, and Entertainment (CTE) Clear Teaching Credential (2021 - 2026) California

Information and Communication Technologies (CTE) Clear Teaching Credential (2021 - 2026) California

8-12 Computer Science Teaching Credential (2016-2020) Texas

6-12 Technology Education Teaching Credential (2015-2020) Texas

Awards

Certificate in Inclusive Hybrid Teaching (2021) Department of Informatics, University of California, Irvine

Division of Teaching Excellence & Innovation Summer Fellowship (2021) University of California, Irvine, Graduate Division

COVID-19 Supply Grant (2021) University of California, Irvine, Graduate Division

Summer Grant (2020) University of California, Irvine, Department of Informatics

Graduate Student Travel Award (2019) University of California, Irvine, Department of Informatics

Department of Education Fellowship (GAANN)(2018 - 2019) University of California, Irvine

Diversity Recruitment Fellowship (2017-2018) University of California, Irvine

Chair’s Award (2017) University of California, Irvine

Dean’s Award (2017) University of California, Irvine

Teacher of Promise (2015) AISD New Teacher of the Year Award, Covington MS

Minecraft Education Influencer (2015) Microsoft Education

AISD CTE Scholarship (2014) Austin Independent School District

CETL Assistantship (2012-2013) Georgia Institute of Technology

ETS Recognition of Excellence Award (2011) Praxis II: English Language, Literature and Composition: Content Knowledge

Academic Scholarship (2008-2010) Southern Utah University

ACT Certificate of Achievement (2009) Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency

Western Undergraduate Exchange Grant (2005-2006) Southern Utah University

Academic Scholarship (2005-2006) Southern Utah University

Leadership Award (2005) Northwest College

Academic Scholarship (2004-2005) Northwest College

First Generation Student Scholarship (2004-2005) Northwest College

Most Outstanding Student Award (2004) Northwest College

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Memberships

International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts

Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts

Gamma Beta Phi

Golden Key International

Phi Theta Kappa

Sigma Tau Delta

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