Let's Talk

Episode Details

How can we use the principles of improv theatre to help students become more creative writers?

In this episode of Imagine This, Dylan Ismail sits down with Andrew Duval, educator, writer, and co-creator of Frankenstories and WriteLike, to explore how game-based collaborative writing is changing the way students experience literacy. Andrew shares the story behind Frankenstories, why he describes it as "the game is writing," and how principles from improv theatre can help students become more creative, confident, and collaborative writers.

The conversation dives into what meaningful collaboration really looks like in classrooms, why peer feedback can be more powerful than automated feedback, and how teachers can use Frankenstories for everything from narrative writing to poetry. Andrew also discusses the impact of AI on writing education, explaining why he chose to focus on building authentic, social writing experiences instead of relying on AI-generated assessment.

About Andrew Duval

Andrew Duval is a teacher at Humanitas High School in Brisbane, Australia, and the co-creator of WriteLike and Frankenstories. He holds a Master's in Scriptwriting from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School and has spent his career exploring how storytelling, design, and technology can improve education. Andrew has received an Australian Writer's Guild Award, a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant, multiple Good Design Australia Awards, and was a winner of the MIT Solve AI in Assessment Challenge. 

In this episode, you’ll hear:

  • [00:02:05] The classroom moment that revealed the power of Frankenstories
  • [00:06:50] How Frankenstories evolved from writing research, mentor texts, and cognitive load theory
  • [00:12:37] Why collaboration is more than group work—and what improv teaches us about writing together
  • [00:22:16] Why comedy comes naturally, and how genre shapes collaborative storytelling
  • [00:30:02] Moving beyond silly stories through poetry, empathy, and authentic writing
  • [00:35:16] Using Frankenstories for poetry, reflection, and different writing experiences
  • [00:42:40] Designing classroom experiences: adapting the tool for different learning goals
  • [00:49:40] AI, writing, and why meaningful collaboration makes shortcuts less appealing
  • [00:55:15] Practical advice for teachers: diagnostics, scaffolding, and building classroom norms
  • [01:03:23] Final reflections on improv, collaboration, and why writing is meant to be played together

—

Resources discussed in this episode:

—

Contact Classmate: 

Contact Andrew Duval | WriteLike: