It has often been cited as a concern that video games might possibly hamper the progress of students in their respective academic fields. That concern now appears to have been taken out of context.
According to a new collaborated study conducted by universities of Serbia, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, video games can often be a good source of academic learning. The fact remains that majority of students tend to use them from a leisure perspective which can lead to addiction and can hence negatively influence learning outcomes in the long run.
However, another fact that gets overlooked and often remains misunderstood is how playing video games can prove to be incredibly beneficial but for the most excellent students, at least based on a small pool of samples.
Through a quantitative approach where data was collected (and analyzed) from a “small public university situated in Saudi Arabia,” it was noted that the most excellent students not only spend more time playing video games but they also earn (and keep up with their) high grades.
“Students with high academic achievement spend more time playing video games (p = .005), indeed almost as much as they spend on learning activities, and surprisingly they still earn high academic grades,” states the study.
The study further points out that the best students opt for a “play hard, study hard” approach which means that they use video games to self-reward themselves. That and how playing the right games can influence social opportunities and enhance problem-solving skills, both of which boost students to excel in their respective academic (or professional) fields.
That being said, the study was conducted through a fairly small data pool and findings in other countries may differ from the Middle East. Either way, the ongoing research suggests that educational institutes can make use of video games to develop better teaching strategies. The same goes for the games industry which can further help with the development of games with regard to education.
