Blog Archives
Research shows that collaborative gaming increases learning.
NDTV notes that;
“Playing educational video games either competitively or collaboratively with another player can enhance students‘ motivation to learn, a new study has found.
While playing a math video game collaboratively – as compared to playing alone – students adopted a mastery mindset that is highly conducive to learning, researchers said.
Moreover, students’ interest and enjoyment in playing the math video game increased when they played with another student.
The findings point to new ways in which computer, console, or mobile educational games may yield learning benefits.
“We found support for claims that well-designed games can motivate students to learn less popular subjects, such as math, and that game-based learning can actually get students interested in the subject matter?and can broaden their focus beyond just collecting stars or points,” said Jan Plass, a professor in New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and one of the study’s lead authors.
“Educational games may be able to help circumvent major problems plaguing classrooms by placing students in a frame of mind that is conducive to learning rather than worrying about how smart they look,” added co-lead author Paul O’Keefe, an NYU postdoctoral fellow at the time of the study.
The researchers focused on how students’ motivation to learn, as well as their interest and performance in math, was affected by playing a math video game either individually, competitively, or collaboratively.
Researchers had middle-school students play the video game FactorReactor, which is designed to build math skills through problem solving and therefore serves as diagnostic for learning.”
To read the full article click here,
Related articles
- Playing educational video games can boost kids’ motivation to learn (indiavision.com)
- Educational Video Games Help Students with Math Skills (scienceworldreport.com)
- Educational video games can boost motivation to learn, NYU, CUNY study shows (hispanicbusiness.com)
- Co-op gaming is a smart way to teach, says new research (polygon.com)
- Breaking Barriers: Video Games as Tools for Learning and Recovery (thetechscoop.net)
Learn Algebra in Minutes with a Video Game
Jordan Shapiro writes that;
“On average, it took 41 minutes and 44 seconds for students to master Algebra skills during the Washington State Algebra Challenge using the DragonBox App.
The Challenge, co-sponsored by Washington University’s Center for Game Science and the Technology Alliance included 4,192 K-12 students. Together, they solved 390,935 equations over the course of 5 days in early June. According to the Challenge’s calculations, that’s 6 months, 28 days, and 2 hours worth of algebra work.
What’s even more impressive, “of those students who played at least 1.5 hours, 92.9% achieved mastery. Of those students who played at least 1 hour, 83.8% achieved mastery. Of those students who played at least 45 minutes, 73.4% achieved mastery.”
Jean-Baptiste Huynh, creator of DragonBox
To read more click here;
Related articles
Gamers out-perform surgeons in robotic surgery simulation
Does your surgeon play Halo? Perhaps she should!
“Researchers have found that high school and college-age gamers are better virtual surgeons than medical residents. Scientists from University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston had a hunch that students with a regular video game diet (high school sophomores who played two hours of games a day and college students who played four) would be primed for virtual surgery tools. They were right. When performance with those tools was measured, the game-playing students did better than a group of residents at UTMB.”
To read the full article by Colin Lecher click here.
6 Scholarships for Gamers
2012 Winner of the The Penny Arcade Scholarship
David Doyle, University of Tennessee – School of Journalism
High school and College students really can earn real money for their College education through games! Here is the list.
The Penny Arcade Scholarship $10,000
The Evo College Scholarship, – two $10,000 scholarship awards as well as a $500 creative grant.
The Twitch & Alienware Scholarship Program five $10,000 scholarship
The Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) G.I.R.L. Scholarship Program –$10,000 award and an optional 10-week paid internship at one of SOE’s studios.
The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences awards four $2,500 scholarships each year.
To read more about the winners and details about these scholarships read the article by Matt Konrad by clicking here.
More efficient learning with games
Ned Smith writes about how Course Hero makes a game of learning.
“Learning can be fun when you make a game out of it. That premise underlies the decision of an online learning platform to use game mechanics to engage college students. It works by motivating students to join, participate, contribute and share their successes.
Founded in 2007, Course Hero is an online learning tools resource designed to help college students discover a more efficient and productive learning experience. Gamification technology that uses badges, leaderboards that display rankings, social sharing and rewards is integrated throughout the site’s four core offerings: Courses, an extensive series of custom-designed lessons organized into three learning paths, entrepreneurship, business, and Web programming; Flashcards, interactive learning tools on a wide array of topics; Tutors, which connects students with experts on hundreds of subjects; and Study Documents, a library of study guides, lecture notes and practice problems.
“Gamified courses are the fastest growing part of our business,
“Learning can be fun when you make a game out of it. That premise underlies the decision of an online learning platform to use game mechanics to engage college students. It works by motivating students to join, participate, contribute and share their successes.
Founded in 2007, Course Hero is an online learning tools resource designed to help college students discover a more efficient and productive learning experience. Gamification technology that uses badges, leaderboards that display rankings, social sharing and rewards is integrated throughout the site’s four core offerings: Courses, an extensive series of custom-designed lessons organized into three learning paths, entrepreneurship, business, and Web programming; Flashcards, interactive learning tools on a wide array of topics; Tutors, which connects students with experts on hundreds of subjects; and Study Documents, a library of study guides, lecture notes and practice problems.”
– Ned Smith, BusinessNewsDaily Senior Writer
Gaming and Education 