Educational Video Games

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Recommended: Negative effects of video games on the brain

Develop and critically evaluate a research design to investigate an issue in education

My area of interest is in the use and effect of ‘educational’ video games on learning. Grand claims are made in marketing materials produced by companies such as Nintendo about their software’s potential to improve users’ working memory, often further suggesting that the merits of this improvement can be felt in many different areas of cognition. These games are developed based on principles of neuroscience, and many are being marketed to parents and children.

Many more related, yet distinct educational games exist online in the form of game-based activities for students, marketed to schools as a supplement to classroom teaching, a resource for homework or as a revision tool. Such tools claim to improve performance in standardised tests for curricula worldwide.

I feel it is important to distinguish between the two different kinds of educational game described above, yet also consider it important to point out that claims made of one are often applied to the other when marketing the games to consumers.

In this assignment I will discuss some of the shortcomings of existing research in the field, as well as provide a methodology for a further study into the impact and efficacy of such programmes.

Context

A randomised control trial study aimed to infer a causal relationship between playing of Nintendo’s ‘Brain Age’ and cognitive function, by Nouchi, R., Taki, Y., Takeuchi, H., Hashizume, H., Akitsuki, Y., Shigemune, . . . Kawashima, R. (2012) indicated that playing the “commercial brain training game improves executive functions, working memory, and processing speed in young adults” (p.1).

The sample for the study (41 people gathered throug...

... middle of paper ...

... D. (2001). Research Design in Social Research. London: SAGE Publications.

Gorard, S. (2013). Research Design: Creating Robust Approaches for the Social Sciences. London: SAGE Publications.

Miller, D. & Robertson, D. (2011). Educational benefits of using games consoles in a primary classroom: A randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Educational Technology. 42 (5).

Nouchi R, Taki Y, Takeuchi H, Hashizume H, Nozawa T, et al. (2013) Brain Training Game Boosts Executive Functions, Working Memory and Processing Speed in the Young Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. PLoS ONE 8(2): e55518. [Online], available from: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0055518 [Accessed 22/04/14].

Torgerson, D.;Torgerson, C. (2008). Designing Randomised Trials in Health, Education and the Social Sciences : An Introduction. Palgrave Macmillan.

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