Research Proposal

Introduction

Video games have had plenty of bad press in recent years. Many have said that the only way to get rid of the video game “problem” is to ban all video games out right. However, there are many benefits to playing video games. This project will be looking at those pros and attempt to prove to you that videogames are a beneficial source for teachers to use to improve with their students learning. I will be doing this by asking a number of questions: What do video games help with learning? What are the pros and cons of using video games over traditional methods? Are there benefits you can get from playing video games that aren’t part of a school program? It could be that video games could help the U.S. get back on top for education.

Review of Literature

The sources that I have found so far fall into one of three categories. To begin, I will talk about sources that show a positive correlation between school work and video games. “Mind Games,” by Alan Gershenfeld, from Scientific American, talks about how using video games as an educational tool helps with student learning by increasing their interest in continuing school  as well as how the community on how violent video games affects individuals is split on whether or not playing violent video games effects you long term. Another article, “Gamification in Libraries,” by Eric Phetteplace and Kyle Felker from Reference & User Services Quarterly, talks about how libraries may be improved by using gamification, and thinking about the problem like a video game, to have more patrons who learn more than they normally would. Another article, “Practising Arithmetic Using Educational Video Games With An Interpersonal Computer,” by Vagner Beserra and associates, talks about how arithmetic is taught better when video games were used versus the standard methods of teaching. And finally, “Media And Attention, Cognition, And School Achievement,” by Marie Schmidt and Elizabeth Vandewater, talks about how the kind of material that digital media produce affect how children do in school.

The next group of sources I will talk about are sources that link video games to beneficial attributes to the body and mind of an individual. “Playing An Action Video Game Reduces Gender Differences In Spatial Cognition,” by Feng Jing, Ian Spence, and Jay Pratt, talks about how playing action video games helps female minds with understanding spatial thinking to such a degree that there was no difference in how male and females think about different spatial problems. Meanwhile, another article, “Positive Association Of Video Game Playing With Left Frontal Cortical Thickness In Adolescents,” by Simone Kühn and associates, talks about how playing video games as a young child increases the child's ability to think and reason, especially when it come to strategically planning. An article by Isabela Granic, Adam Lobel, and Rutger Engels, “The Benefits Of Playing Video Games”, talks on the benefits to playing video games as a whole, looking at all of the areas of the brain that video games affect and how they are affecting them. Another article, “Reasons For Playing Casual Video Games And Perceived Benefits Among Adults 18 To 80 Years Old,” by Susan Whitbourne, Stacy Ellenberg, and Kyoko Akimoto, talks about how people of different ages get different perceived benefits from playing the same game, such as improved memory.  

Finally, this last group of sources are just those that don’t fit into the other two categories. “Three Questions About the Internet of Things and Children,” by Andrew Manches, Pauline Duncan, Lydia Plowman, and Shari Shabeti, talks about how the increase in different forms of digital media is affecting how children are growing and learning. Another article, “Deciding to Defect,” by Brad Sheese and William Graziano, talks about how playing violent video games reduces the ability, of those who participated in the study, to be able to work well with others.

Plan to Collect Information

In addition to the sources that have been collect up to this point, I will be looking for more sources through the online databases provided by Olympic College to add to the amount of information that I already have. I will also be looking through different online sources that will provide me with more relevant information about this topic so that I will have a comprehensive understanding of my topic.

Project Timeline

This coming week, I will be finishing collecting enough sources for my annotated bibliography, which must be in by the 11th of February. After that has been turned in, I will begin the literature review on the 12th and work on that till the 17th, by which time it will be ready to hand in on the 18th. From the 19th to 3rd of March, I will be working on a draft of my paper, as well as a rationale and abstract. From the 5th till the 12th of March, I will be working on polishing the essay so that on the 13th, I will be able to turn it in.

Works Cited

Sheese, Brad E., and William G. Graziano. "Deciding To Defect. The Effects Of Video-Game Violence On Cooperative Behavior." Psychological Science (2005): 354-57. Print.

Feng, Jing, Ian Spence, and Jay Pratt. "Playing An Action Video Game Reduces Gender Differences In Spatial Cognition." Psychological Science (2007): 850-55. Print.

Marie Evans Schmidt, and Elizabeth A. Vandewater. "Media And Attention, Cognition, And School Achievement." The Future of Children (2008): 63-85. Print.

Kühn, Simone, et al. "Positive Association Of Video Game Playing With Left Frontal Cortical Thickness In Adolescents." Plos ONE 9.3 (2014): 1-6.Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Jan. 2015.

Beserra, Vagner, et al. "Practising Arithmetic Using Educational Video Games With An Interpersonal Computer." Journal Of Educational Technology & Society 17.3 (2014): 343-358. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.

Phetteplace, Eric, and Kyle Felker. "Gamification In Libraries." Reference & User Services Quarterly 54.2 (2014): 19-23. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.

Manches, Andrew, et al. "Three Questions About The Internet Of Things And Children." Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning 59.1 (2015): 76-83.Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.

Gershenfeld, Alan. "Mind Games." Scientific American 310.2 (2014): 54-59. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.

Granic, Isabela, Adam Lobel, and Rutger C. M. E. Engels. "The Benefits Of Playing Video Games." American Psychologist 69.1 (2014): 66-78. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.

Whitbourne, Susan Krauss, Stacy Ellenberg, and Kyoko Akimoto. "Reasons For Playing Casual Video Games And Perceived Benefits Among Adults 18 To 80 Years Old."Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking 16.12 (2013): 892-897. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.