Though recent research (Conrad 2018) has shown that nearly 10% of adolescent gamers regularly become addicted, when it comes to academics, research shows that video games, in general, do not negatively impact academic student performance. In fact, Drummond and Sauer (2014) clearly distinguished between pathological and non-pathological gaming; the latter actually being associated with increased academic performance.

Adichi & Willoughby’s 2013 study showed that gaming correlated with higher self-reported problem-solving skills and that, in turn, correlated with stronger academic performance. I, however, am skeptical of this claim. Not because I doubt that video games can lead to improved academic performance, but because I don’t think the researchers were specific enough about what, in these video games, could be causing the students to become better problem solvers. The researchers attributed the students increased performance to playing “strategic” video games, but they didn’t sufficiently define the term “strategic”. Beyond labeling the games as “strategic”, the research wasn’t explicit about which games the students in the study were playing and how they played those games. As a formerly intense gamer, I can attest to the fact that some of the games that the article described as “strategic”, aren’t actually as “strategic” as they seem from an outsider’s perspective. It would be tragic to recommend that students play expensive and time-wasting, “strategic” games that don’t actually improve their ability to problem solve. In my previous blog post, I argued that the stronger problem-solving abilities of students who play those kinds of games, relative to the general population, is more likely to be because of selection bias or other factors, rather than a result of playing those games. However, I do agree with the study’s idea that games can influence pedagogy in a way that would improve its ability to keep students interested.

Video games, generally, have a variety of ways to keep the attention of their players, which could be easily carried over to educational games, and the classroom. For example, online competitive games often have very elaborate reward systems. These rewards are either earned by completing certain tasks or purchased with a set amount of in-game currency. The rewards themselves can range from power-ups for in-game abilities, to bonuses, or even to exclusive outfits for player’s digital avatars. Gathering these rewards is a major incentive for many players who play these games at a high intensity; I think that the same thing can be applied to the classroom. Teachers already incentivize students with bonuses like extra credit, and the possibilities for incentives could be expanded using digital media. Maybe, teachers could offer students online incentives to do their work in the same way that gaming companies offer digital incentives to play their games. These incentives could be further personalized to the individual tastes of the students. In a classroom like this, a student could do extra math practice for a “boost” on Instagram or some other personalized digital plaything, instead of just extra-credit. Beyond simply incentivizing students to stay interested, gamifying the classroom could also increase student’s ability to stay focused on menial, but essential tasks.

One of the biggest struggles in teaching mathematics, for example, is getting students to actually practice what they’ve been taught. The latest in teacher education for Mathematics educators, leans towards conceptual understanding over the rote, procedural methods of teaching that were used in the past. Unfortunately, there is a limit to how much of a concept student will retain without practicing it, no matter how effective a teacher is at making the students understand that concept during class. Students generally don’t enjoy practicing the procedures involving these concepts because it’s boring to do the same things over and over again. This is worsened by the fact that a lot of students (my former self, included) are even more uninterested in the practice assignments when the teacher is effective enough for them to strongly understand the material in class. Gamifying practice, with individualized problems as opposed to just a practice sheet, for example, could be a first step in making it more tolerable to the average student.