There are many views surrounding the use of computer games in the classroom. Some argue that computer games are a valuable asset to the education sector while others are skeptical about this view. The truth is that people have changed the way they interact in the 21st Century and technology has played an important role. According to the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2009, only twenty-six percent of U.S. students scored above level 4 (level 4 refers to the ability to complete higher order tasks) in the area of mathematics. This is lower that 32 percent of students in the other 33 countries assessed (Lemke, Sen, Pahlke, Partelow, Miller, Williams, Kastberg, & Jocelyn, 2004). With these statistics in mind, we come to the conclusion that there is deficit in the teaching/learning process of critical thinking skills in the area of mathematics. This study will examine the use of a computer game in the classroom as a mean to increase the critical thinking skills in mathematics. Three schools will be participating in this study with 20 students from each school. There will be a total sample of 60 participants. The students will be administered the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) as a pre/post test. The students will participate in a 30-minute tutorial class. The treatment group will be using a computer game to enhance their mathematical critical thinking skills for a period of 12 weeks. The expected results should demonstrate an increase of scores in the post-test from the treatment group compared to the comparison groups. Computer Games: An Approach to Increase Critical Thinking in Mathematics In recent years technology has changed the way people interact with one another. The advancements of te... ... middle of paper ... ...motivate today's technology-dependent students. Journal Of Stem Teacher Education, 48(1), 7-12. Retrieved on ------- from ERIC database Przybylski, A. K., Rigby, C. S., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). A motivational model of video game engagement. Review of General Psychology, 14(2), 154. Retrieved on ------- from ERIC database Trespalacios, J., Chamberlin, B., & Gallagher, R. R. (2011). Collaboration, engagement & fun: How youth preferences in video gaming can inform 21st century education. Techtrends: Linking Research And Practice To Improve Learning, 55(6), 49-54. Retrieved on ------- from ERIC database Young, M. F., Slota, S., Cutter, A. B., Jalette, G., Mullin, G., Lai, B., ... & Yukhymenko, M. (2012). Our princess is in another castle a review of trends in serious gaming for education. Review of Educational Research, 82(1), 61-89. Retrieved on ------- from ERIC database
Researchers, however, have found that gaming may not be completely bad for adolescents. A recent study by Paul J.C. Adachi and Teena Willoughby points out that video gaming may satisfy the same criteria for positive youth development as traditional organized activities such as sports, music or clubs. In direct contrast to this analogy, they demonstrate that there may be significant social benefits of gaming, that adolescents are motivated to play video games and that this type of play requires concentration and mental effort (Adachi and
Imagine a way for educators to bridge the age and technology gap and to engage their students actively in almost any subject. As the educational needs of future citizens of the world evolve, educators are turning to innovative methods of teaching basic subjects, like math & science, and crucial technology, learning and social literacy skills, like video creation, research strategies and positive community interaction.
There are several negative stereotypes associated with video games and those who play them; some of these may often hold true. However, there are plenty of learning opportunities in video games. While the direct purpose of some games is to educate or train, other games that do not directly have this purpose can still become a learning experience for the player. As Ntiedo Etuk, president of the educational video game company Tabula Digital said, “The traditional view of video games has been that they are distractions from the task of learning” (Electronic Education Report 1). Video games are an effective tool for learning and retaining skills both inside and outside the classroom environment. The basic cycle of game play--the introduction to the game, game play, collaboration, improvement of these between each round, and evaluation at the end of the game (Klievink and Janssen 159)--are nearly parallel to the traditional classroom learning cycle of reading a textbook or listening to a lecture, taking a quiz, studying, focusing on items missed on the quiz, and taking a test or exam. Within this cycle, there are many opportunities to develop and perfect both educational, life, and occupational skills.
Annetta, L. A. (2008). Video Games in Education: Why They Should Be Used and How They Are Being Used. Theory Into Practice, 47(3), 229-239. doi:10.1080/00405840802153940
Griffiths, Mark. "The Educational Benefits Of Videogames." Education & Health 20.3 (2002): 47-51. Professional Development Collection. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.
There is no doubt that video games have become a major entertainment as important as cinema, literary and theatre for modern people. Nowadays, people tend towards spending more time on playing games than ever before. According to Nielsen’s report, gamers age 13 and older spent 6.3 hours a week on any gaming platform in 2013 around the United States, and the time people spent in 2012 was just 5.6 hours per week (The Nielsen Company, 2014). 12 percent, rising is a clear message to remind people that video games should be taken seriously. Because, as an emerging mode of entertainment, it is being a part of our culture and has a tremendous influence in our daily life. An increasing number of people are beginning to realize that games should and
Adachi, Paul J.C. and Willoughby, Teena. “Do Video Games Promote Positive Youth Development?” Journal of Adolescent Research 28.2 (2012): 155-165. Web. 12
Video games contain information that would help educate students, as well as providing a relief and also the changes involving games help students. There are people who simply think games are a distraction and others that may think that video games are poisoning the minds of children. But the field of video games is an evolving field, and we can utilize it to better equip students with skills like problem-solving and priority management. These skills are integral to a student’s success in the future, and we can help them learn them through something they love doing:
Computer Games can be seen as a new way of teaching children in an engaging way because games are seen as a motivational tool, but why is this? It is potentially because of the interactive and responsive nature of games that also makes the user part of the outcome rather than being a passive spectator. Computer Games successfully aid the learning process of the players as people learn by enjoying themselves; this promotes the idea that educational games can still be fun to play. The most successful games are complex and difficult, because the gamer can expand their learning potential through adapting to the new rules of the game they are playing. On the other hand some gamers, specifically beginners, are put off games that are difficult to play. However game designers need to design their games in such a way that the gam...
Initial studies have found that video games hold the potential for teachers and trainers to reach out to their students and provide a better understanding of the coursework (Anyaegbu, Wei, & Yi, 2012). This study’s rational examines how this could be used to benefit learning environments and the barriers toward their implementation. These questions arise because there is a need to understand the reasons for the hesitation of the implementation of video games in an educational system and to examine the benefits of this type of
There have been several studies conducted on learning and serious games, for example, a recent study by the Office of Naval Research found that video game players performed ten to twenty percent better in perceptual and cognitive ability than non-game players, and that video games helped adults process information faster(Steinberg,2012). Another study by the Federation of American Scientists found that students re...
There is the stereotype of a nerdy gamer who is in solitude in the minds of many (Tanner Helland com, para 1-7). However, most video games for the kids provide an intense social activity amongst the children. Most of the kids in the current generation play the pc games collectively in real time. An example is the case for two or even more kids square off in the maiden game. At times the kids even engage in playing with or even against other players who are in the virtual world. Most of the kids like playing in groups so that they can share their resources and even negotiate moves as is the case of mine craft game. Shawn a psychologist in University of Wisconsin says that ‘video games change your brain’. Playing the computer games changes the physical structure of the brain in the same way as map navigation, playing piano and learning. Games bring forth rewarding surges and a power concentration of neurotransmitters such as dopamine strengthening the neural circuits which may build the brain. The researchers find the video games as a synthesis of the traditional arts with a component of interaction. Recent surveys indicate that roughly 65% of the children play games with others who are in the game rooms with them. 27% of the game playing kids also connect with other children via the internet. Roughly 11% of
Presently, video games aren’t merely toys that negatively influence the youth. They have become an alternative means for people to learn and train for work. Games teach values and essential information, and motivate its players to achieve goals. Soldiers and doctors benefit from video games as well. The collaboration of game developers and educators helps improve the quality of educational games. At present, as technology progresses, one can truly see that video games have become an important factor in learning.
Mathematics can be concrete and use reason as a way of knowing. These are learned concepts with repetitive procedure. Critical thinking is a type of reasoning that uses logic that will never deviate. The early concepts of mathematics taught in schools are thought to be concrete with fixed steps and formulas for solving problems. One only has to think about the steps previously taught and accept them to be true. The concepts can only be accepted to be true by using the skills to process and generate information and belief. The use of the skills as an “exercise” with no meaning or understanding is not critical thinking however. It is always believed that the area of a right triangle is one half the base times the height. Reasoning can be used through the drawing of a grid to prove this formula to be true. Therefore, mathematics uses critical thinking as a way of known skills to guide behavior based on intellectual commit...
The experience of game play can be described as an activity in which the player is virtually embodied in the game world. Anyone who has experienced the world of gaming knows how the engaging experience can manifest itself with “sweaty palms and chills down the spine” (http://www.eludamos.org/index.php/eludamos/article/viewArticle/80/147) when coming face-to-face with alien creatures; or with the adrenaline rush we get when racing a high speed automobile head-to-head with a friend. Gaming is an excellent source of entertainment. It provides an opportunity for social growth, provides a meaningful form of exploring expression, and provides heightened sensitivity.