-1. Working Hypothesis 1

Making the development of a video game a crowdsourced process would allow every type of player to be serviced

-1a. Working Hypothesis 2

Video games promote analytical methods that are often neglected in traditional education.

Practice opening

Video games present a model for skill building in a group setting that we do not see in a curriculum based education system. Many video games require the player to engage with many different complex systems that are built for specific games. These systems often make the player feel stronger, or push a specific way of playing the game. The more a player hones their skills and engages with these systems, the better they will perform in the games content. Video games also push improving a groups skills, often forcing players of all different types to work together to achieve a common goal. While these games have some need for actually learning how the systems work before they can be applied, they focus way more on teaching the player through showing them, rather then telling them what to do. Our current school systems do not promote these same ideals. Forcing students to sit through hour long lectures, with little to no engagement, does not promote them to want to continue working with the concepts. It quickly pushes them to a state of burnout and makes them not want to participate at all.

-2. Academic Sources

1.

https://www.idunn.no/doi/full/10.18261/ISSN1891-943X-2006-03-02

I find it counterintuitive that video games are an interactive medium and are not being used as such. A hypothesis from James Paul Gee, in the article “Are Video Games Good For Learning?” claims that “good commercial games are built on sound learning principles,” and “video game technologies hold out great promise, beyond entertainment, for building new learning systems for serious purposes in and out of school.” Complex systems, like that of weather, atoms, DNA, ancient civilizations, and anatomy often use scientific simulations to show how these systems work. But in these simulations, the scientist isn’t “playing” as the animal in their ecosystem. They use the simulation to show visuals of said simulation, while explaining as if they are “playing.” Scientists explain their graphs and simulations, using words like “You” and “I.” Video games allow the player to experience said systems by playing them.

2.

https://www.bmj.com/content/326/7391/703.short

This article talks about how skill based assessments work in the medical field. Anyone in the medical field has to take their job on a case by case basis, which makes assessments of their individual skills way more important. The range of problems a patient can have is so vast that just learning the actual knowledge is not enough. Years and years of practice has to be involved.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351978920316024

This article talks about how the industries of our world are growing and changing, and how we need our education system to change with them. Schooling for children needs to teach more skills, rather then just teaching to a curriculum. While based teaching does have a place in the world of education, students cannot compete, students cannot compete or better todays industries without the necessary skills.

3.

Click to access EN-YeniSempozyum-47b2facc.pdf

This paper talks about how the world of video games promotes violence. It is the paper I chose to argue against in my rebuttal post. It talks about how advertisers of video games use violence as a tool for promotion, and try to use it to get younger audiences to play their games. My argument against this point had to do with the fact that it was at the fault of the parents for not seeing what media their kids were taking in, not the games.

4.

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-05034-011

This abstract talks about how kids use media as a way to help with development and the difficulties they may encounter in childhood. I use the points made in this to further the idea that kids use video games as a means of escapism, due to difficulties with managing stress or their home lives.

5.

Click to access ARE-VIDEOGAMES-A-WASTE-OF-TIME-THE-PEDAGOGICAL-VALUE-OF-VIDEOGAMES-A-MULTI-STAKEHOLDER-APPROACH.pdf

This paper highlights a debate between parents, students, and teachers regarding the pedagogical value of video games and how games can be used for learning. It mainly focus’s on for dimensions: video games as a recreational device, video games as a pedagogical tool, video game creation in general, and video game creation as a pedagogical tool.

The study used a group of 106 people (50% male, 50% female), aged from 18-65. They had varying levels of education as well. 13% of them were teachers, 35% were parents, and 50% were students. The actual survey was split into 2 parts. The first part asked their basic information, and asked questions regarding digital media, with a focus on video games. The second part asked questions with a focus on video games as a pedagogical tool (mainly focused on the four dimensions listed in the previous paragraph).

The survey had higher values of agreement in regards to the creation of video games as a pedagogical tool, the use of video games as a pedagogical tool, and the creation of video games in general. However, regarding the recreational use of video games, agreement levels were lower.

The conclusion of this study reported a higher level of positive attitudes regarding the adoption of video games as a pedagogical tool. The only part that saw more negative attributions were video games as a recreational tool. This leaves open the possibility to explore the idea that video games are just entertainment devices. It also mentions what further research could be done, specifically mentioning how more research into what specific games provide skill acquisition and learning enhancement.

6.

https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.rowan.edu/stable/1466813?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

This study compares medical students who participated in a problem-based curriculum and students who participated in a traditional curriculum.

7.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00607/full

8.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563208002227

9.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563215300960#bib38

This paper attempts to provide an answer on if collaborative learning is superior to individual learning. The study found that group learning is superior for complex cognitive tasks, where as individual learning is superior for performance based on retention on information.

-3. Topics for Smaller Papers

Violent acts as a result of video games come from the misuse of the product, rather then the game itself.

Video Games are actually a very good way to show the complex systems of our world in an interactive way and can be used for more then just entertainment.

-4. Current State of My Research

I feel like I can definitely pull something together from the work I’ve done so far, but I do also believe that I need to take more time to update my papers and hypothesis’s.