Exploring the Relationships among Types of Video Games played and Self- Reported Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving with Undergraduate Students Aml Gadallah Supervisor: Dr. J. Turner Mount Saint
Loading...
Date
2018
Authors
Gadallah, Aml
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Mount Saint Vincent University
Abstract
Previous research has established that playing video games is related to many positive behavioural outcomes (Roy & Ferguson, 2016). However, not much is known about whether playing different types of video games has an effect on critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The purpose of this research was to explore the relationships among types of video games and self-reported critical thinking and problem-solving. Thirty-eight undergraduate students recruited through an online survey filled out measures on media use behaviour, extracurricular activities, critical thinking and problem-solving. One-way ANOVAs indicated that there were no differences between types of video games played and critical thinking (p = 0.055) and the types of video games played and problem-solving, (p =0 .081). Spearman correlations yielded no significant results for the relationship between time spent playing video games and problem solving or between time spent playing video games and critical thinking. The results also showed that the relationship between the types of extracurricular activities and problem-solving skills was not statistically significant, (p = 0.22); nor was the relationship between types of extracurricular activities and critical thinking statistically significant (p = 0.09). In conclusion, there were no relationships between type of video game played and critical thinking and problem solving. Additional research in this area is needed to further investigate the relationships between types of video game play and problem solving and critical thinking. The current study had a very small sample of gamers (n = 27), resulting in low power and may be the reason for lack of significant findings. Future research should seek to obtain a more diverse sample in terms of age and gender as well to focus on recruiting a more representative sample of gamers.
Description
Keywords
Video games, critical thinking, problem solving,