And that gives scientists something against which they can compare their experimental data.Ĭulture (n. Its area would show how plants in this garden grow under normal conditions. For example, if scientists were testing different types of fertilizer in a garden, they would want one section of it to remain unfertilized, as the control. It shows that any new effect is likely due only to the part of the test that a researcher has altered. The control is essential to scientific experiments. People with anxiety may even develop panic attacks.īehavior The way something, often a person or other organism, acts towards others, or conducts itself.Ĭontrol A part of an experiment where there is no change from normal conditions. In his opinion, the study results are a perfect excuse to get your game on.Īdaptability How well a person or organism can change itself in response to a changing condition.Īnxiety A nervous reaction to events causing excessive uneasiness and apprehension. Video games may be a more fun or effective way for certain students to gain the same kinds of skills.
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The violence in some games also concerns her.īarr points out that other skill-building activities, such as traditional sports, aren’t for everybody. For example, spending long periods staring into a screen without moving could lead to health problems. Oliver also worries about the potential downsides to video gaming. And there are other ways to sharpen the same life skills that might also improve with gaming. The game could just as easily be hopscotch or Monopoly, she notes. “Playing games develops skills,” she says. “This is no surprise.” But that’s not only true of video games. She isn’t convinced that schools should add a video game room. A school could set up a video game room, for example, or start a gaming club on campus.īeverley Oliver is an expert in education at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. “It’s kind of like joining the hockey team,” he says.īarr thinks schools should have video games as extracurricular activities - just like sports. In that sense, he believes sports and video games may build similar life skills. Several students told him that playing games on a team helped to not only break down their anxieties but also to build their confidence. Part of the teamīarr also interviewed the study participants about the experience. In contrast, fewer than half of the students in the control group improved their scores in each of the three areas.īarr’s results appear in the October issue of Computers & Education. And communication skills scores increased for 69 percent of gamers. Adaptability scores increased for 75 percent. Resourcefulness scores increased significantly for 81 percent of the gamers. One statement related to communication skill, for example, was “I feel nervous in social situations.” A statement related to resourcefulness was, “When faced with a difficult problem, I try to approach its solution in a systematic way.”īarr found that after two months of playing video games regularly, students’ scores on all three skills improved. Participants rated how true each statement seemed.
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#New video games 2017 october series#
This includes problem-solving and knowing when to ask for help.Įach questionnaire included a series of statements. The third questionnaire looked at resourcefulness. This investigated how well people deal with changing situations. One measured their communication skills, such as talking and listening. So all of the games prompted conversation and cooperation.īoth before and after the study, students in both groups filled out three questionnaires about their real-life skills. But the students talked through these games as they played. Two of the games were single-player only.
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Six of the games in the study included ways for players to work together in the game itself. Portal 2 is a puzzle game that requires creative thinking. Minecraft is a game about gathering resources and constructing a world. Players work together to defeat enemies and collect loot. For example, Borderlands 2 is an action-packed role-playing game. The control group, in contrast, makes no changes. One or more groups will change their behavior. To understand the effect of a change in behavior, scientists must compare at least two groups. They could come and go whenever they wanted to, but each had to play for a total of 14 hours.Īnother group of students did not play any games at the lab. The students played in a computer lab over an eight-week period. So he recruited 16 university students to play eight different video games. Multiplayer games also require good communication among players.īarr wanted to know whether these gaming skills carry over into real life. You have to be able to figure out what to do if you’re just dropped into a situation,” he says. “Games are always keeping you on your toes. From his own experience, Barr knows that video games demand quick thinking.