Student Perceptions of How Past Video Game Playing Affects College Readiness

Student Perceptions of How Past Video Game Playing Affects College Readiness

Dissertation Manuscript

Submitted to Northcentral University School of Education in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

by FRANK MICHAEL WESTCOTT

San Diego, California February 2019

ProQuest Number: 13806277

All rights reserved

INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.

In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.

ProQuest 13806277 Published by ProQuest LLC (2019 ). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author.

All rights reserved.

This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition Š ProQuest LLC.

ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346

DocuSign Envelope ID: E8940530-0F67-490A-803F-9CCE8F5170C3

Approval Page Student Perceptions of How Past Video Game Playing Affects College Readiness

By FRANK MICHAEL WESTCOTT

Approved by the Doctoral Committee:

Ph.D. Melanie Shaw Dissertation Chair: INSERT NAME

Degree Held

PhD Margaret Broderick Committee Member: Dr. INSERT NAME Degree Held

PhD Watkins Committee Member: Julia INSERT NAME Degree Held

02/14/2019 | 10:36:54 MST

Date

02/14/2019 | 07:03:09 MST

Date

02/14/2019 | 04:27:25 MST

Date

Abstract The problem that this study addressed is that current research has overlooked the potential transferability of needed 21st century skills from video game playing in middle and high school to success in college many years later among under-prepared college students. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of current community college students regarding their past video game playing habits. Community college students are typically under-prepared for college and most do not graduate. Those who do succeed often bring with them certain non-cognitive skills that enable them to compensate for their lack of academic preparation. Fifty-one students from a community college in Westchester County, NY responded to the invitation to participate in this study. Forty-six students were included in this study because they were considered under-prepared for college but were on track to graduate and had a history of playing video games while they were in middle and high school.

Data were collected via an online, anonymous survey. The responses to the interview questions were analyzed to gain an understanding of the perspectives of these under-prepared college students who were succeeding when most in their position fail. The strengths and skills they possessed that they attributed to their success in college were analyzed along with the types of video games they played when they were younger. Patterns emerged from the data analysis that supported and expanded the existing research into the skills and attributes inherent in successful under-prepared college students. The new finding, unique to this study, is that the shared skills and strengths that the under-prepared college students attributed to their success were developed or refined through a history of video game playing while they were in middle and high school.

Recommendations for future research include long-term longitudinal studies following middle

ii

school students through high school and college and multiple regressions analyzing past video game habits and current college success.

iii

Acknowledgments First and foremost I would like to thank my wife, Catherine, for without her unending support and encouragement during this arduous journey this would not have been possible.

Without her inspiration and belief in me I would have quit many times. Thank you for believing that this could get done when I often started doubting myself.

Secondly, my children (Sammi, Alex, and Matt) had endured a lot of crankiness when their grumpy dad was facing some pressing deadlines. Thank you for understanding when I needed time to read, research, and write. This would not be possible without some of your sacrifices and I really appreciate your support.

Next, I want to thank my mother. From a very early age she has instilled in me a love of reading. This love of reading has served me well throughout my life. Thank you.

I also need to acknowledge my supportive dissertation committee, especially my chair Dr. Melanie Shaw. Without your timely and valuable feedback and encouragement, this dissertation would never have been completed. When, at times, this dissertation process began to feel a little overwhelming or I felt I hit a wall and could not continue your guidance and coaching made all the difference. Thank you.

Lastly, every teacher I had from my first day in Kindergarten until now has contributed in some way to this achievement. The time you spent planning lessons, developing engaging learning activities, along with every other thankless task that teachers do on a daily basis have helped build the foundation and lifelong learning attributes that have helped me succeed in my educational pursuits. I’ve learned so much from every one of you.

iv

Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Background ............................................................................................................................... 2 Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................................... 3 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................................. 4 Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 5 Nature of the Study ................................................................................................................... 5 Significance of the Study .......................................................................................................... 7 Definitions of Key Terms ......................................................................................................... 8 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 10 Under-prepared College Students ........................................................................................... 11 21st Century Skills .................................................................................................................. 16 Video Games ........................................................................................................................... 17 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 47 Chapter 3: Research Method ......................................................................................................... 51 Research Design...................................................................................................................... 51 Population/Sample .................................................................................................................. 52 Instrumentation ....................................................................................................................... 54 Study Procedures .................................................................................................................... 55 Assumptions............................................................................................................................ 55 Limitations .............................................................................................................................. 56 Delimitations ........................................................................................................................... 56 Ethical Assurances .................................................................................................................. 57 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 58 Chapter 4: Findings ....................................................................................................................... 60 Results ..................................................................................................................................... 61 Evaluation of Findings ............................................................................................................ 70 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 77 Chapter 5: Implications, Recommendations, and Conclusions .................................................... 80 Implications............................................................................................................................. 81 Recommendations for Practice ............................................................................................... 88 Recommendations for Research ............................................................................................. 91 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 92 References ..................................................................................................................................... 94 v

Appendix A: Interview Questions .............................................................................................. 108

vi

List of Tables

Table 1 21st Century Skills as Identified by the Participants Compared to Existing Research ...66

vii

1 Chapter 1: Introduction Ninety-one percent of children between the ages of 2 and 17 play video games and 97% of these individuals play at least one hour a week (Blumberg, Altschuler, Almonte, & Milea, 2013). In addition, 97% of teens between the ages of 12 and 17 reported that they play video games (Lenhart et al., 2008). There have been studies linking video game play with increased aggression (Hasan, Begue, Scharkow, & Bushman, 2013), poor social skills (Greitemeyer & Mugge, 2014), obesity (Vandewater, Shim, & Caplovitz, 2004), and decreased academic performance (Anand, 2007). Whereas some studies were conducted to examine the benefits of playing video games, this is still an area in need of additional research (Evans, Norton, Chang, Deater-Deckard, & Balci, 2013; Ferguson, 2007; Granic, Lobel, & Engels, 2013). More recently, researchers have begun exploring the possible role that video games play in developing the 21st century skills necessary for college and career readiness (Romero, Usart, & Ott, 2015).

Through an analysis of eight frameworks describing 21st century skills Voogt and Roblin (2012) delineated a common set of 21st century skills including collaboration, communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, and help seeking. Some of these 21st skills have been identified as lacking among students who are considered under-prepared for college level work (Melzer & Grant, 2016).

A recent study conducted by Finkelstein and Thom (2014) highlighted the problem of the open enrollment policies of many colleges, which has led to the acceptance of students who are under-prepared for the demands of higher education. Specifically, students who are enrolled in two-year community colleges are typically under-prepared for the rigor of college level work and often do not graduate (Martin, Galentino, & Townsend, 2014). Researchers have yet to examine the effects that a history of playing video games has on developing 21st century skills that impact

2 under-prepared college students’ ability to succeed in college. Previous researchers explored the relationship between the number of hours spent playing video games and academic achievement among middle school, high school, and college students (Buelow, Okdie, & Cooper, 2015; Hamlen, 2014; Ventura, Shute, & Kim, 2012). These researchers, however, focused on the current gaming habits of the students. This study focused on the perceptions that current undergraduate students have regarding the impact their video game playing habits in middle and high school had on their college readiness and academic preparedness.

Background In the U.S., 41% of all undergraduate students enrolled in college are enrolled in a twoyear community college (RTI International, 2016). After six years, 46% of students enrolled in community colleges do not graduate and an additional 20% are not on track to graduate (RTI International, 2016). Poor academic preparation is one factor that contributes to a student’s failure to complete a two-year community college degree on time. Some under-prepared students, however, can overcome their deficiencies and succeed in college if they enter college with skills that enable them to compensate for their academic deficits (Martin et al., 2014).

Some of the skills possessed by students who succeed in community college mirror the 21st century skills delineated by the Partnership for 21st Century Learning (Soule & Warrick, 2015).

Video games have different genres and each genre has its own set of characteristics. Apperley (2006) delineated four different game genres, role-playing, action, simulation, and strategy.

Different game characteristics contribute differently to the development of 21st century skills (Romero et al., 2015).

3 Statement of the Problem With the increasing popularity of video games (NPD Group, 2013) and an increased focus on preparing students for college and careers (U.S. Department of Education, 2010), researchers have yet to examine whether the skills developed through a history of video game play affect college readiness and academic achievement (Piotrowski, 2015). Whereas researchers have already reported a negative correlation between video game playing and college GPA there is a lack of research into past video game habits regarding current college achievement, specifically when examined through the perspective of the students themselves (Burgess, Stermer, & Burgess, 2012). Because almost all teens play video games, by the time they enter college it is likely that they have spent tens of thousands of hours playing video games while they were in middle school and high school (NPD Group, 2013). Students entering college today require 21st century skills to be successful (Hilton, 2008; Soule & Warrick, 2015; Tucker, 2014).

This phenomenon generates questions about whether the tens of thousands of video game playing hours in middle and high school help students develop 21st century skills and whether these skills affect their academic performance when they enter college. The problem that this study addressed is that current researchers have overlooked the potential of the transferability of needed 21st century skills from video game playing in middle and high school to success in college many years later among under-prepared college students. Examining this potentially beneficial effect of video game playing, by focusing on the perspectives of the students who are most likely to reap these benefits, closed a gap that existed in the literature. Failure to address this problem would have been detrimental to the future development of theories about how to tap into the popularity of video games to develop college readiness skills in traditionally underprepared college students.

4 Purpose of the Study The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of current undergraduate college students from a state university community college in New York regarding their video game playing habits while they were in middle school and high school. Community college students are typically under-prepared for college level work.

Therefore, community college students who are under-prepared yet succeeding in their pursuit of a college degree may possess strengths and skills that enable them to succeed. The purpose of this study was two-fold. First, under-prepared college students were identified as for whether or not they were on track to graduate. In order to explore if past video game playing had any impact on the development of the necessary skills for college success it was important to identify under-prepared college students who were succeeding despite their lack of academic preparation.

Once the students were identified, they were recruited via e-mail addresses obtained through the college. Through the use of an anonymous, online survey, the students shared their perceptions of the skills they attributed to being a contributing factor toward their ability to succeed in their pursuit of a college degree. Additionally, the students reflected about their video game playing habits while they were in middle and high school. The goal was to establish a sample of students that included at least 10 people that have a history of video game playing and are on track to graduate on time. Creswell (2013) suggested that 10 participants is a good target sample size for a phenomenological study. From this sample of students who reported a history of playing video games while they were younger and were on track to graduate more data were collected to gain an understanding, from the students’ perspectives, of the types of the games they played and the college readiness skills they feel they developed through a past history of video game playing.

5 Research Questions Researchers to date have explored some of the positive and negative effects of video game play (Anand, 2007; Greitemeyer et al., 2014; Hasan, et al., 2013; Romero, et al., 2015; Vandewater, et al., 2004). This study explored the lived experiences of under-prepared college students and examined their perspectives regarding the relationship between the cumulative effects of video game play and the broad transfer effects of 21st century skills.

Research question 1. What are some of the shared lived experiences and skills that under-prepared college students attribute to their potential to be successful in college?

Research question 2. What 21st century skills do students feel were developed or refined through video game playing?

Research question 3. Which video game genres were most frequently played by current college students while they were in middle school and high school and which skills do they feel were developed or refined?

Nature of the Study For this study, the researcher used a qualitative phenomenological approach to explore and understand the perceptions of under-prepared community college students pertaining to their success or failure toward pursuing their education goals. Using a qualitative approach afforded the researcher the opportunity to study this issue in depth (Butina, 2015). Because this study is more exploratory than predictive a qualitative approach was most suitable (Leedy & Ormond, 2010).

It was important that the researcher’s presuppositions be suspended for this study. A phenomenological research design was therefore the best approach. A personal narrative approach was considered but ultimately rejected because it was important to examine the lived

6 experiences and perspectives of the students being studied and this was best accomplished through phenomenology (Moustakas, 1994). Kohler-Riessman (2012) identified three different types of personal narratives; extended, biographical, and personal. The extended approach, that documents the life events and stories of selected subjects in real time, would not have been appropriate for this study. Additionally, a biographical narrative is more autobiographical and also would not have been suitable for this study. The most restrictive of the three narrative inquiries is the personal inquiry and while this approach affords researchers the ability to gain a deeper understanding of a multifaceted issue from the view of those closest to the experience like the other narrative approaches it does not address the problem of the existence of researcher presuppositions (Kohler-Riessman, 2012). Because there is no single explanation to address the research problem and due to the fact that multiple perspectives of the research participants were vital to gain a full understanding of the phenomenon being studied a qualitative phenomenological approach was best (Leedy & Ormond, 2010).

The effect that a long-term history of video game play has on the development of skills that could be transferred and applied by under-prepared college students pursuing a degree is not a problem that would have best been studied through a quantitative approach. A quantitative, correlational study would have been adequate if the focus of the present study was simply a comparison of the relationship between video game habits and college GPA. The nature of this study was more complex than measuring and comparing video game hours and college GPA. Creswell (2013) posited that a qualitative approach is more useful when the nature of the study is to go beyond simply understanding and explaining but placing the study in a particular context.

Additionally, exploring the contextual meaning through the lived experiences and situational

7 knowledge of those being researched was most readily accomplished through a phenomenological study (Creswell, 2009).

Significance of the Study For this study the researcher explored the experiences of under-prepared college students to examine if long-term video game play develops skills that can be transferred and applied to other endeavors, specifically pursuing a college degree. Most community college students are under-prepared for the rigors of college scholarship and do not graduate after six years of enrollment (RTI International, 2016). Those that do often bring with them certain non-cognitive skills that enable them to succeed despite a lack of preparation (Martin et al., 2014). There has been a call by many to focus more attention on developing non-cognitive skills as part of the preparation students receive for college readiness (Sparkman, Maulding, & Roberts, 2012). By analyzing the lived experiences of under-prepared college students and differentiating the characteristics that enabled them to be successful when many in their situations have failed can have implications for future college readiness preparation. This study will have significance for knowledge, theory, practice, and leadership. Through an exploration of the lived experiences of the under-prepared students regarding their past history of video game play a common link between the skills developed through video game playing and the skills necessary for college readiness may become apparent. This study was designed to contribute to the collected body of knowledge if such a link does seem to be apparent. While this study is more exploratory in nature the possible link between video game skills and college readiness skills may contribute to some emerging theories about the lasting effects of video game playing. If the skills that the successful students exhibit mirror the skills that are developed through a history of video game

8 play, then teachers and instructional leaders can begin to develop strategies to isolate these skills and teach them to students who are identified as at risk for being under-prepared for college.

Definitions of Key Terms 21st century skills. There are a number of skills that have been identified as 21st century skills. Soule and Warrick (2015) identified critical thinking, creative problem-solving, effective communication, collaboration, effective technology use, and the ability to find and assess information quickly as essential skills for success in the 21st century. Romero, Usart, and Ott (2015) also posited that flexibility, risk taking, and self-direction are important skills for 21st century success.

College readiness. College readiness is defined as the level of preparation needed by students to be successful in college. College readiness refers to an aggregate of knowledge, skills, and habits required for students to be able to participate in college. Camara (2013) delineated the ability to persist towards completion of a degree, the ability to graduate, and the ability to maintain a passing GPA with a minimal need for remedial courses as measures of college readiness.

Gamer. The term gamer is defined as one who plays video games. Gamers can play video games alone, cooperatively, or competitively with others who are locally present, or online with thousands of other gamers (Granic et al., 2013).

Gamification. The application of characteristics from digital games into non-gaming contexts (Furdu, Tomozei, & Kose, 2017).

Video games. Some of the distinguishing characteristics of video games are their interactivity, active engagement, and ability to react to the behaviors of players (Granic et al., 2013). Video games can be played on computers, game consoles, tablets, or cell phones.

9 Summary Video games are popular among teenagers and almost all middle and high school students play video games (Lenhart et al., 2008). Whereas some researchers have used correlational studies to link video game play to decreased academic performance (Anand, 2007; Ferguson, 2011) others have contributed contrary results (Collins & Freeman, 2014; Hamlen, 2014). What research has failed to examine is whether the years of playing video games during middle and high school have any long-term benefits when these students enter college.

Specifically, this study intends to examine, through an exploration of the lived experiences of current community college students, the skills that middle and high school students develop during video game play. Examining these skills alone is not enough to contribute to the current field of research into video games and education. This researcher proposed to take the research further by examining the current success of under-prepared college students enrolled in a community college and matching the skills they identify as contributing to their success to skills they may have developed during their video game play in middle and high school.

10 Chapter 2: Literature Review In this literature review the researcher works to establish a background for the study of under-prepared college students’ perceptions of how their past video game playing affects their college readiness. This chapter is divided into three major sections. The first section provides an examination of the research on under-prepared college students with a focus on the skills and attributes that differentiate successful and non-successful students. The second section establishes a framework of research-based college readiness skills with a specific focus on 21st Century Skills. The third major section provides a systematic review of the current research related to video games with a close examination of the skills that may potentially transfer from video game playing to real-life contexts as well as the effects that video game playing has on academic performance. Following the review of the literature, a summary of the research is presented along with an overview and support for the study.

The literature search for this study was conducted through several sources using a variety of key words and search strategies. The sources included the Northcentral University Library; databases such as ProQuest Education Journals, Sage Education, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), and EBSCOhost; scholarly and peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Studies in Education and the Journal of Educational Computer Research; current books and well as seminal works; and websites such as the U.S. Department of Education and RTI International. In addition, whenever appropriate, the references lists of relevant studies were used to locate additional peer-reviewed studies related to the phenomenon examined in this study.

11 To fully examine the existing literature related to this study a thorough search was conducted using a variety of keywords and search terms related to video games. A preliminary search was conducted using the keywords, video games, video game playing, and effects of video game playing. To narrow the search subsequent inquiries were coupled with keywords such as academic performance, attention, executive function, health, violence, persistence, problemsolving, and prosocial behavior. To frame the study specifically to the population and sample of interest keywords were also used to locate literature about under-prepared college students, community college students, college success skills, and emotional intelligence. Lastly, to bridge the connection between under-prepared college students and video games further literature was located using the keywords 21st century skills.

Under-prepared College Students Historically, educational policies and decisions were the responsibilities of state and local school boards with little to no involvement of the federal government. The Cold War and specifically the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union ushered in an era of more federal involvement in education. On October 4, 1957 the Soviets launched Sputnik I and, in essence, beat the United States in the race to launch a satellite into space. This action put a lot of pressure on the United States to keep up with the technological advances of the Soviet Union.

Matching the pace of the Soviet Union’s technological growth required more scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. The Cold War sparked an increased demand for public education to train better mathematicians and scientists. Public education quickly became a national security issue (Ellis, 2007). With public education thought of as a national security issue it meant that the United States government would be expected to play a more active, handson role in decisions that were once left to local and community school boards.

12 The federal government’s initial foray into education came via the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. It was the beginning of a new era of federal involvement in educational policies. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act has been amended over forty times since its initial passing. In the 1980s, the Secretary of Education under President Ronald Reagan, William Bennet, wrote a report about the state of education in America. In the report there was a call for academic standards to ensure that our public schools were producing citizens that would be able to participate in and contribute to our nation’s economy and be able to contribute to our nation’s defenses (Johanningmeier. 2010).

In 2002 President George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act, the forty-second amendment to the original Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (Pederson, 2007). The No Child Left Behind Act continued the focus on standards that began in the 1980s after Education Secretary William Bennet’s report but went further to tie federal money to conditions that state and local school districts must satisfy (Ornestein & Hunkins, 2009).

Decades of federal involvement in education paved the way for President Obama’s Race to the Top initiative which was a competitive grant program that was designed to encourage states to support innovations in education. Race to the Top provided the federal government with the means to induce state-level policymaking that aligned with the president’s education objectives regarding college readiness (Howell, 2015). In addition, Race to the Top built on the previously established Common Core State Standards initiative.

The Common Core initiative developed a set of common college and career readiness goals designed to increase student achievement (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010). These goals, coupled with the

13 promise of increased federal funding, have put a lot of pressure on local school districts to graduate students who are expected to go on to continue their education at the college level.

School districts across America put systems in place to encourage and push all students to go to college. This pressure on many students to go to college coupled with the open-access policies initiated by the Higher Education Act of 1965 has resulted in many students being encouraged to enroll in college regardless of their academic preparation (Finkelstein & Thom, 2014). As a result of the Race to the Top initiative that rewarded districts for producing students who enrolled in college, and the open-enrollment policies of community colleges, many students continued their education after high school despite the fact that many of them were not academically prepared for the academic rigors of higher education. In fact, 1/3 of the decline in college completion rates can be attributed to the increase of under-prepared students registering for, and attending college (Bound, Lovenheim, & Turner, 2010).

Community college students. Community colleges are typically open-access and without stringent requirements for acceptance. Many students are drawn to community colleges when their options for colleges are limited due to low grades and underperformance in high school. As a result, students that are enrolled in two-year community colleges are typically under-prepared for the academic demands necessary for college success and they often do not graduate (Martin, et al., 2014). In the United States., 41% of all undergraduate students enrolled in college are enrolled in a two-year community college (RTI International, 2016). A clear majority of community college students attend for more than two-years and never complete their studies. After six years, 46% of students enrolled in community colleges do not graduate and an additional 20% are not on track to graduate (RTI International, 2016).

14 Many community college students are considered under-prepared because they enter college with low academic preparation and usually need remedial courses (Townsend & Twombly, 2007). To address some of the deficits that under-prepared students have when they enter college many of the community colleges have a policy of requiring remedial courses. Pratt (2017) posited that 68% of the students enrolled in community college took at least one remedial course. Intended to help give under-prepared students a boost and catch then up academically to their academically prepared peers remedial classes usually have the opposite effect. Clotfelter, et al. (2015) posited that the remedial courses that are usually required of under-prepared college students often significantly reduce the students’ probability of success in college. Whether it is due to the fact that the remedial courses delay the under-prepared students from entering the standard courses that they need to graduate or contribute to a negative self-image that the students have when they are not in the same courses as their more capable peers, the fact remains that enrollment in required remedial courses reduces the a student’s likelihood of success (Clotfelter, et al., 2015). Many of the students required to take remedial courses give up before the courses are complete. In fact, only half of the students who enrolled in remedial courses actually completed them (Pratt, 2017). If the required remedial courses that under-prepared students must take contribute to the lowering of their self-image and makes them feel less capable than their peers it would explain why community college students have a shift in college confidence after attending their first few semesters (Bickerstaff, Barragan, & Rucks-Ahidiana, 2017). If under-prepared students enter college hopeful but begin to lose confidence as a result of attendance in required remedial courses a better solution might be to find other ways to increase the likelihood of their success. Because skill-based remediation courses often do not produce the desired results when it comes to student success in college among under-prepared

15 students a better approach might be to build life-long learning attributes and characteristics among these students (Schaffer, Eshbach, & Santiago-Blay, 2015). Perhaps what they lack in academic preparation they could make up for with the development on non-academic skills and strengths.

Fortunately, researchers have identified some of these attributes and characteristics.

Martin, et al. (2014) conducted a study using semi-structured interviews with community college students to identify characteristics that were shared among the students who were successful.

The researchers found that community college students who were able to be successful where most in their position failed had clear goals, strong motivation, self-empowerment, and an ability to manage external demands (Martin, et al., 2014). Recognizing the need for assistance and having the knowledge and willingness to seek help when necessary are behaviors that are also linked to success. Showers and Kinsman (2017) showed that students who sought help had higher GPAs than students who did not exercise help-seeking behaviors. Managing external demands to be able to stay focused on goals while maintaining a high level of effort, also referred to as grit, is another predictor of success in college (Akos & Kretchmar, 2017). More college success attributes have been identified by Beattie, Laliberte, and Oreopoulos (2018) who attribute college success and higher levels of academic achievement to students who demonstrate conscientiousness, persistence, and grit.

Sparkman, et al. (2012) conducted a correlational study using multiple linear regressions to evaluate possible relationships between the students’ cumulative grade point averages and emotional intelligence scores. The participants were surveyed and asked to self-report their emotional and social intelligent behavior. They reported that students were more likely to be successful and graduate within five years if they exhibited higher emotional intelligence. In

16 terms of college success, Sparkman et al. (2012) recommended that student success in college could increase if high school counselors and college preparatory programs encouraged students to raise their emotional intelligence while they are still in high school. Many of the noncognitive skills associated with emotional intelligence mirror the skills that have been identified as essential 21st Century Skills.

21st Century Skills The Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21) is a non-profit organization that has been collaborating with educators, business leaders, and policy makers for over a decade to establish a framework of essential skills related to college and career readiness in the 21st century (P21, 2015). Some of the skills identified as essential 21st century skills are the ability to think critically, creatively solve problems, communicate effectively, collaborate, find and access information quickly, and effectively use technology (P21, 2015). Voogt and Roblin (2012) delineated additional skills as necessary for success in the 21st century including: the ability to learn to learn new skills, self-regulation, planning, flexibility, and risk taking. Soule and Warrick (2015) defined 21st century skills collectively as the 4Cs: creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. Redecker, et al. (2011) organized 21st century skills into three categories (a) personal skills including initiative, resilience, responsibility, risk taking and creativity; (b) social skills such as team, networking, empathy, compassion, and co-constructing; and (c) learning skills such as managing, organizing, metacognitive skills, and failing forward.

Many people equate 21st century skills with being adept at using technology and all of its applications. Whereas effectively using technology is one of the identified 21st century skills it is not the most important skill. Technology and access to technology is ubiquitous in today’s society and there are not many people without some technology skills. Instant access to rapidly

17 changing information is the norm in the 21st century. Today’s students need to be able to navigate through the complex, massive flow of information available electronically and effectively process, analyze, synthesize, vet, and apply the information to meet their various needs. Important for the 21st century is the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn to adapt to the changes resulting from the rapidly evolving technologies (Wilson, 2006).

Video Games Video games are not new. They have been around since the 1970s with the development of the first video game. Over the decades, video games have gotten more popular and today hundreds of millions of people partake in the hobby. Since the 1990s, when the popularity of video games increased, researchers began taking notice. Over the years researchers have touted the benefits of video games as well as the dangers associated with playing video games.

Romero, Usart, and Ott (2015) conducted a comprehensive review of the literature of serious game to determine which, if any, game characteristics could help develop 21st century skills.

Romero, et al. (2015) intentionally limited their study to serious games, games that were designed and created to be education-oriented. This literature review was conducted without such limitation but was conducted to examine the potential of all video games to develop 21st century skills and other cognitive and non-cognitive skills that could be transferred from video game playing to non-gaming contexts.

The potential for video games to help students develop skills stems from the way in which video game players develop the skills they need to be successful in the games that they play. Constructivist theorist Lev Vygotsky posited that learning and skill acquisition does not occur in isolation but through social interactions with environments and other people. He believed that learning was more meaningful when interactions occurred between learners and

18 experts (Armstrong, 2015). Vygotsky’s contribution to constructivism included his discussion of what he called the Zone of Proximal Development. This zone is the difference between what children are able to do without assistance and what they can accomplish with guidance and help from adults or through collaboration with more capable peers (Vygotsky, 1978). According to Vygotsky, that gap between what they can do alone and what they can do with help is the zone in which all learning takes place (Gredler, 2012). If learning tasks are too easy or too hard, no learning will take place. If a task is just slightly harder than students are able to accomplish on their own and appropriate supports are in place, optimal learning will occur.

Video games epitomize Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development. Video games present challenges to the players that increase in difficulty as the players’ skills grow and develop. As players move up through the levels of most video games the games get increasingly more challenging. Without realizing it, children who play video games are learning and adapting to the increasing challenges of the games they play. Contrary to some beliefs, children are not cognitively lazy when they are engaged in video game play and they do not like games that are too easy so they will often seek out games that are difficult and require thinking (Hamlen, 2011).

Children who play video games do not like games that are too easy, nor do they play games that are too difficult. Gamers play games that are right in their zones of proximal development and like all learning that takes place in that zone sometimes assistance is needed to progress.

Vygotsky referred to the temporary supports afforded to learners as the progress through their zone of proximal development as scaffolding (Vygotsky, 1978). Not unlike the scaffolding found in many construction sites the supports are designed to provide the needed assistance and then removed when assistance is no longer required. Like the scaffolding espoused by Vygotsky, video game players will often seek temporary help and guidance when a game

19 presents challenges that they cannot overcome unassisted. Seeking help when stuck in a video game comes naturally to most players. Receiving support and help from more capable and experienced people is at the crux of what Vygotsky posited as the way students construct their own learning. Video games inherently afford players opportunities to work through their frustrations and by doing so develop cognitive and non-cognitive skills. Video gamers will employ a variety of strategies to help them overcome a task or level that seems impossible.

Video game players will read websites or guidebooks written about the game to find useful secrets and tips or they will watch more experienced players navigate through the difficult points of the game either through online videos or by sitting with experienced players (Hamlen, 2014).

Hundreds of millions of people use online streaming services such as Twitch to watch live internet broadcasts of other people playing video games (Sjoblom & Hamari, 2017). Watching more experienced players or utilizing one of the other help strategies delineated by Hamlen (2014) affords video gamers just enough support to improve their game. By playing games that are a little too difficult to win on their own video gamers are learning how to learn by learning how to seek out the temporary assistance that will give them the support they need to advance. If this help seeking behavior is learned and applied to non-gaming contexts video gamers will have developed tools that will help them succeed in future endeavors.

The goal of this literature review of video games is to examine the potential of all video games to develop 21st century skills that can be transferred to non-gaming situations.

Gamification, the application of characteristics from digital games into non-gaming contexts, has the potential to engage, motivate, and encourage learning and problem-solving in contexts outside of gaming contexts (Furdu, Tomozei, & Kose, 2017). The potential of video games to develop skills within the gaming context that can be applied to novel, seemingly unrelated tasks

20 outside of the gaming contexts was supported by the work of Ebrahimzadeh and Alavi (2017) who demonstrated the motivating factor of video games through a study of high school students’ language learning motivation. They posited that commercial digital video games helped increase their language learning motivation.

Video games and 21st century skills. Video games, especially those played interactively online with thousands of other players, can foster social learning (Squire, 2006). Social learning, a philosophy espoused by Vygotsky and social constructivist theorists, is crucial for learning and the acquisition of knowledge and skills (Silveman, Crandell, & Carlis, 2013). Video games by their design and nature are platforms that epitomize social learning.

Video games require players to constantly obtain, synthesize, analyze, and evaluate information while simultaneously applying critical thinking and problem-solving skills. These skills, which fall into the category of 21st century skills, have been posited to have the potential for transferability to real world situations (Susacta, et al., 2010). Persevering through increasing difficult challenges and knowing when and how to seek help was investigated by Hamlen (2014) in a small, exploratory study among a sample of middle and high school students. Going further Hamlen (2014) investigated the relationships between the strategies they used to overcome challenges in video games and the strategies that were used to complete homework assignments and whether or not these are predictors of academic performance in school. Students who used a walkthrough strategy such as watching a video or reading a written guide with secrets and tips to navigate through the difficult portions of the games tended to have higher GPAs. Asking for help and checking the manual when stuck were also strategies that positively correlated to higher GPAs.

21 Seeking help from more experienced players comes naturally for most video game players. Learning from a more experienced person has been referred to as a cognitive apprenticeship (Essary, 2012). In the Middle Ages a master craftsman would hire a young apprentice. The apprentice would serve as a form of inexpensive labor for the craftsman while receiving formal training in the craft. A cognitive apprenticeship in a classroom would see a teacher taking on the role of a master craftsman guiding and supporting apprentices, the students, as they gradually improve their skill until they require less and less guidance and are capable on their own. The approach of a cognitive apprenticeship contains elements of Vygotsky’s concept of scaffolding as well as his zone of proximal development theory. When inexperienced video game players seek out the assistance and tutelage of more experienced players they are in essence creating their own form of a cognitive apprenticeship. By watching and learning they slowly gain the skills to succeed on their own without any assistance. Whether they know it or not video game players are regularly apply time tested constructivist learning theories to their video game playing hobby.

The ability to self-regulate to ignore distractions and maintain the focus required to make progress towards achieving one’s goals is yet another non-cognitive skill associated with success in the 21st century. Gabbiadini and Greitemeyer (2017) examined the association between playing video games and self-regulation. Specifically they were interested in the relationship between strategic video games and self-regulation behaviors and they determined that playing strategic video games was positively associated with self-regulation. They found the same positive association across gender and age and showed that the higher the frequency of strategic video game play the higher the students self-reported their level of self-regulation (Gabbiadini & Greitemeyer, 2017). Unclear, however, is whether the skills that were developed to be

22 successful in the strategic video game transferred and increased the development of the players’ self-regulation skills or if the players already had self-regulation skills and it is this that enabled them to be successful in the video game.

Looking at problems from multiple angles and thinking creatively to solve the problems is another important 21st century skill. The Partnership for 21st Century Learning identified the ability to creatively solve problems as an essential 21st century skill. Creativity is also one of the 4C’s of 21st century skills delineated by Soule and Warrick (2015). Thinking creatively and applying creative problem-solving strategies does not seem to be skills positively associated with video games. Some research studies have highlighted the negative correlation between video game playing and creativity (Hamlen, 2013) or no relation between video game playing and creativity (Hamlen, 2009). In fact, Hamlen (2009) posited that children who play video games tend to use more practical problem-solving than creative problem-solving.

Problem solving. Aldachi and Willoughby (2013) investigated the predictive relationship between playing strategic video games and the development of problem-solving skills within adolescents. The researchers found that adolescents who played strategic video games across many years of high school reported steeper increases in self-reported problemsolving skills over time. The findings also led to a conclusion that a greater frequency of strategic video games in grade 11 predicted greater self-reported problem-solving in grade 12.

This research added a unique finding to the existing research by determining that strategic video games predicted higher self-reporting problem-solving and that higher self-reported problemsolving predicted higher academic grades (Aldachi & Willoughby, 2013). The study was unique in that it connected past video game playing to skills that in the future were applied to a different context. The findings are important for the purposes of this study in that they support the

23 hypothesis that video game playing in the past may have lasting effects that manifest themselves later and lead to gains in areas outside of the video gaming context.

Children do not always apply their problem-solving skills in video gaming situations.

Student approaches to learning video games tend to be more practice and repetition than problem-solving (Hamlen, 2012). Contrary to prior research, exploration and constructivist methods of learning are not very efficient for learning video game skills. Blumberg and Randall (2013) conducted a study to examine the type of problem-solving approaches to playing video games that might be shown over the course of a novel recreational video game among fifth through seventh graders. By having the participants think aloud while playing to illustrate their approaches in game play researchers were able to make inferences about students’ problemsolving behaviors while playing. The younger the player, the more related the comments were to specific goals and problem-solving (Blumberg & Randall, 2013).

Executive function. Skills that give individuals cognitive control over their actions, thoughts, and emotions are referred to as executive function skills. These skills begin to develop during preschool years, continue to develop rapidly during early childhood, and continue developing into adulthood (Zelazo & Carlson, 2012). In early childhood the effective development of executive functions skills, specifically the skill of self-regulation, are important for the development of skills later in life that are necessary for forming social relationships, engaging in positive behavior, avoiding negative behavior, pursuing long-term goals, and increasing academic achievement (Diamond, 2013). Successful development of executive function in early childhood has been linked to gains in school readiness (Vitiello & Greenfield, 2017). Much of the development of executive function skills occurs within the same period of a child’s life when most children regularly play video games (Blumberg, et al., 2013; Lenhart, et

24 al., 2008; Williams, Yee, & Caplan, 2008). The development of executive function skills related to video game playing has been the focus of much research. There is some research that the earlier children begin playing video games the more they benefit in the development of executive function skills (Hartanto, Toh, & Yang, 2016). In fact, Hartanto, et al. (2016) posited that the onset age of video game play was more of a factor, and a better predictor, than frequency of game play when it comes to the cognitive abilities benefit gained through video game playing.

Within the collective set of skills known as executive function skills are skills that have also been identified as 21st century skills. Skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, taskswitching, and shifting are among the skills that comprise executive function skills. Some of the same skills that are considered executive function skills are also skills that video game players use regularly when playing digital video games. Some researchers have investigated whether playing video games has any effect on the development or refinement of executive function skills. Buelow, Okdie, and Cooper (2015) examined the effects of active video game playing on decision making, problem-solving, and risk taking. Two hundred and twenty-eight undergraduates participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to play one of five different video games or they were assigned to a separate non-gaming condition. After playing the video game they were assigned the participants completed a series of tasks (Iowa Gambling Task, Balloon Analogue Risk Task, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Task). Video game players made decisions more advantageously on the Iowa Gambling Task and they also made fewer errors and completed more categories on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task leading researchers to conclude that some executive function skills are indeed influenced by playing video games. Flynn and Richert (2018) posited that the fact that a video game is considered an

25 active video game is not enough to affect executive functions. Video games that cognitively engage players are more likely to have an effect on the development of executive function skills (Flynn & Richert, 2017).

Developing and increasing executive function skills through video game playing has been shown through the existing research (Buelow, et al., 2015; Hartanto, et al., 2016; Oei & Patterson, 2014). Some of the executive function skills develop naturally through activities that engage the brain and these skills are applied for subsequent activities if the same nature. More importantly, for the purposes of this study, is the examination of the potential for executive function skills refined through video games to be transferred to situations outside of gaming contexts.

The first study to investigate the transfer effects of executive functions through video game playing was conducted by Oei and Patterson (2014). They investigated if training in different action and non-action video games that demand higher-order planning and executive functions are more likely to develop skills that transfer to different executive functions.

Participants in the study were tasked with playing a physics-based puzzle game, Cut the Rope, for an hour a day over the course of five days. In the end, the participants did show improvements in all executive functions that were pre- and post-tested. The improvements in executive function constituted a general transfer of skills unlike previous studies that only pointed to a more specific transfer (Oei & Patterson, 2014). Shifting attention between equally demanding tasks and being able to efficiently change the focus from one to another is an executive function skill that was the focus of a study by Parong, et al. (2017). They showed that this skill improved with the playing of video games. Additionally, they posited that skills that

26 have developed for use within video games can transfer to non-gaming contexts (Parong, et al., 2017).

Holfield, Cicha, and Ferraro (2015) conducted a study to build on the current research and identify the action gaming variables that could serve as predictors of executive function. It was the first study to use a reliable and valid self-report estimate of executive function. Two hundred and twelve undergraduate students were recruited and were surveyed about their action video game experience. The participants’ overall level of executive function was assessed using the Executive Function Index (EFI), a quick and easy self-reporting measure of executive function (Spinella, 2005). Using hierarchical regression analysis, the researchers examined whether action gaming intensity and duration predicted overall levels of executive function beyond the predictive effects of the other covariates (gender, age, education, depression, state and trait anxiety). Even though the data that were collected and analyzed did not support the researchers’ hypothesis that prolonged action gaming would predict higher levels of executive function the study did bridge a gap in the literature by using a valid and reliable self-report index of executive function. Recently, researcher have shown that digital video games can be used as effective training tools to increase cognitive skills, specifically executive function skills (Homer, et al., 2017).

Attention. Some studies have shown that video game players have a greater attentional capacity than non-video gamers (Irons, Remington, & McLean, 2011). Specifically, video game playing enhances a player’s ability to use selective attention and apply the selective attention to non-game related tasks (Green & Bavelier, 2015). Action video games, by design, are fast paced and information is presented and changed rapidly. Action video game players need to constantly process the rapidly changing information and make decisions quickly and accurately.

27 It is for this reason that Dale and Green (2017) posited that the action video game genre has the greatest effect on cognitive performance, specifically developing and increasing the players’ attentional skills.

Ferguson (2011) conducted a study to examine the relationship between television and video games on attention problems and academic achievement as measured by GPA. The researchers used a well-validated clinical measure of attention problems and controlled for other risk factors of attention problems such as gender, family income, neighborhood, peers, family environment, and mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and antisocial personality traits. Data analysis determined that attention problems were predicted most accurately by intrinsic factors such as anxiety and antisocial traits, male gender, delinquent peers, and negative associations with adults and they posited that video game playing was not related to attention problems (Ferguson, 2011).

Action video game playing has been shown to support the transfer of attentional benefits to reading fluency and researchers have suggested that they could be used as a remediation intervention to help struggling readers (Antzaka, et al., 2017). Video games that have been designed for therapy and training purposes have been shown to impact attention. Video game therapy was used successfully, and researchers have concluded they could be a viable treatment for patients with chronic traumatic brain injury to help alleviate attention deficits (Straudi, et al., 2017). For older adults, video game training has shown improvements in measures of attention and working memory (Ballesteros, et al., 2017). Whatever the applications, the research seems to make clear the potentials for skills to be developed through video game play and then, at a later point, applied to novel situations outside the gaming contexts. Within the gaming context Lee and Heeter (2017) posited that expert video game players and non-experts approach the

28 playing if video games differently and regarding attention the expert players might be at a disadvantage. Experts use their working memory to efficiently process information and use that information to make decisions. In a video game context information is presented rapidly and as a result individuals with a greater capacity of working memory would be in a better position to apply attention control on the presented information. Expert players of video games tend to rely on their memory, their existing skills, and what they already know about the game. This reliance on the existing schema means they tend to overlook seemingly unnecessary information and do not pay as much attention to new information (Lee & Heeter, 2017). Regarding games designed to teach something the learning and comprehension gained from such games is likely to be higher among non-expert players who rely less on their existing schema and would likely pay more attention to the information being presented.

Persistence. Neys, Jansz, and Tan (2014) conducted a correlational study to determine if differences between different gamer identity groups can be explained by their motivation structures. The researchers were interested in determining why some video game players persisted with playing even when they were not sufficiently rewarded. Conclusions were drawn that in terms of persistence, video game players were guided by intrinsic motivation. For hardcore gamers, defined as playing more than 26 hours a week, competence had the greatest motivating effect. For casual gamers who played between 9.5 and 18 hours a week and heavy gamers who played between 18 and 26 hours per week it was enjoyment that had the greatest motivational effect.

Real-life can be difficult and people have to learn to deal with stress, adversity, and failure. Some of that is mirrored in the gaming context because video gamers learn to adapt to setbacks, improve their game, and advance through difficulties without getting discouraged by

29 temporary failures to succeed in the games that they play. Tichon and Mavin (2017) posited that persistence in video games can be learned. Video gamers reported that playing video games increased their resilience which, in turn, increased their overall confidence and persistence to endeavors outside gaming contexts (Tichon & Mavin, 2017). When presented with the Anagram Riddle Task, a performance-based measure of persistence by measuring the time that is spent on difficult problems, video game players demonstrated a significantly higher measure of persistence than non-players and researchers have posited that persistence, an important 21st century skill, increases through video game play and transfers to novel tasks unrelated to gaming (Ventura, Shute, & Zhao, 2013). These findings have particular interest to this present proposed study due to the fact that if persistence in video games can be learned and later transferred to situations and tasks outside the video game context it could explain why some under-prepared college students persisted and succeeded when so many in their position failed, especially if they have a history of video game playing when they were younger.

Formica, et al. (2017) analyzed the gaming habits and genre preferences of 981 participants and delineated differences in personality traits depending upon the frequency of game play and the types of games that the players preferred. In real-life, outside of video gaming contexts, casual gamers preferred routine tasks as opposed to the creative tasks requiring usual approaches preferred by the more hardcore gamers. Gamers that played puzzle-based games tended to think more logically and were more persistent when attempting a challenging task (Formica, et al., 2017).

Prosocial behavior. Cooperation, collaboration, empathy, compassion, and responsibility are all prosocial behaviors that are included in the delineation of 21st century skills (P21, 2015; Redecker, et al., 2011; Soule & Warrick, 2015). Researchers have examined the

30 potential of video games to develop gamers’ prosocial behavior. A series of four experiments conducted by Greitemeyer and Osswald (2010) with the purpose of examining whether playing video games with prosocial content promotes prosocial behavior led researchers to the conclusion that the prosocial playing did increased the likelihood of prosocial behavior.

With a lot of negative press and attention directed toward violent video games the influence of violent video games on prosocial behavior has been investigated. The assumption that playing violent video games would decrease players’ prosocial behaviors has not been supported by the research. Tear and Nielsen (2014) showed that playing violent video games did not affect prosocial behavior. Focusing not only on game content but examining the strategies used to play the games revealed that games, even violent ones, played cooperatively increases the likelihood of players working cooperatively on tasks outside of video game contexts (Ewoldsen et al., 2012). Siblings who play video games together cooperatively have shown an increase in affection toward one another and when the video games were violent in nature it has even been demonstrated to lower conflict among the siblings (Coyne et al., 2016). A prosocial game designed specifically to elicit prosocial behavior was studied by DeSmet, et al. (2018).

The researchers were interested in the effects of a serious game designed to specifically target cyberbullying bystander behavior. The results of the cluster-randomized controlled trial showed that the game did increase prosocial behaviors and self-efficacy.

Video games and academic achievement. There have been numerous studies that investigated the relationship between video games and academic achievement. Despite these many studies researchers have yet to find a definitive relationship. The findings among the existing body of knowledge are inconsistent and too often it appears that every new study seems to produce findings that contradict and run counter to the findings of the previous studies. This

31 conflicting research leads to much confusion especially among those most interested in the impact that video gaming has on academic achievement. There are many stakeholders interested in this research. Parents, teachers, and other professionals are concerned about the amount of time that kids spend playing video games.

Ninety-seven percent of teens who play video games report that they play at least one hour a week (Blumberg, et al., 2013). Most video game players report numerous hours of game playing per week. Casual gamers (9.5-18 hours/week), heavy gamers (18-26 hours/week), and hard core gamers (>26 hours/week) are among the 97% of teens between 12-17 years of age who play video games (Lenhart, et al., 2008; Neys, et al., 2014). By their own admission many video gamers label their video game playing as excessive (Hussain & Griffiths, 2009). With all of this time spent playing when these teens enter college they are likely to have logged tens of thousands of hours playing video games (NPD Group, 2013). At first glance the number of hours that children spend playing video games may seem excessive and there are fears that too many hours of video game playing indicate problematic use. Kiraly, et al. (2017) concluded that the amount of time spent playing video games is not enough to predict problematic use. A large study with a sample of over 5,000 participants was conducted and researchers posited that video game playing can become problematic depending on a number of other conditions but that time spent playing, by itself, was not an indication of a problem (Kiraly, et al., 2017).

The impact that the many hours of video game playing has on academic achievement has been the focus of many studies. Video games have been associated with lower GPAs and SAT scores (Anand, 2007). This conclusion was supported by the findings of a study that was the first investigation into the impact of video games on the academic achievement of college students that showed that video game play was significantly, negatively correlated with GPA

32 (Burgess, Stermer, & Burgess, 2012). Unlike the focus of this proposed study they were interested in the current playing habits of college students as it relates to their GPA whereas this study is interested in examining the past habits compared to the students’ current achievement in college.

Many stakeholders are concerned that all the hours that are spent on playing video games are wasted opportunities and that the time spent video gaming is time that could have been spent more productively on educational activities. Some of the findings from the research appear to do little to allay such fears. Weiss and Cerankosky (2010) reported a negative association between video games and academic achievement precisely because the more time that kids spent playing video games meant less time attending educational, afterschool activities. Ward (2017) reported that as video game sales increased, class attendance and homework completion decreased with a large effect size for college students.

Video game players who reported more than 13 hours per week tended to have lower GPAs (Weaver, et al., 2013). This could be explained by the work of Swing, et al. (2010) who posited that the hours that children spend playing video games is negatively correlated with their ability to sustain attention for school related work. This finding appears to be supported by a study that differentiates weekend and weekday video game playing. Students who play more video games on weekdays performed poorer on standardized tests in mathematics, reading, and science (Hartanto, Toh, & Yang, 2018). Conversely, weekend video gaming was positively associated with academic performance. When investigating how computer use effects academic achievement it was discovered that when computer use was expanded to include video games there was a negative correlation with academic achievement (Bowers & Berland, 2013).

33 On the surface it may appear that playing video games is detrimental to academic achievement but as researchers examined the intricacies of the effects of video games the results have led to more confusion and only seem to highlight the complexities of trying to definitively determine a cause and effect relationship between video games and academic achievement. The link between video game playing and intelligence, for example, is correlational and not causal (Kokkinakis, 2017). It may not be possible to determine with any certainty if video game performance increases with intelligence or if higher intelligence causes better video game playing.

Hartanto, et al. (2018) posited that video games have little impact on academic performance in mathematics and science. Controlling for other factors the differences in academic performance, especially in mathematics and science, were negligible related to time spent playing video games (Hartanto, et al., 2018). Complicating the already confusing, conflicting conclusions regarding video games and academic achievement is the work of Ventura, Shute, and Kim (2012) who posited that students who report yearly video game play between 11 and 50 hours had significantly higher GPAs than students who averaged ten hours or less video gaming per year. Students who were considered high frequency gamers, defined by playing over fifty-one hours a week, had no difference regarding their GPAs leading researchers to conclude that when it comes to video games and academic achievement, moderation is best (Ventura, et al., 2012).

Analyzing patterns of video game playing alone might not be enough to make accurate predictions of academic achievement. If video games were such a significant determinant of students’ academic achievement one would expect to see similar results across all testing conditions regardless of other variables. The fact that video game playing is negatively

34 associated with academic achievement for students with average or below average GPAs yet unrelated to the academic performance of students with above average GPAs supports the opinion that video games alone cannot account for variations in the academic achievement of students (Jackson, et al., 2011).

Skill transference. The short-term effects of video games have been reported but pivotal to this proposed study is an examination of some of the long-term effects that can be attributed to a history of video game playing. More importantly, is an examination into the question of whether skills that have been developed through video game playing in the past can be transferred and applied to novel situations outside of the video game contexts. The existing body of research has many examples of the phenomenon of skills that have been developed by playing video games and then transferred and applied to new situations.

To determine if video game benefits extend beyond visual and attentional tasks Boot et al. (2008) designed a study to measure benefits to memory, reasoning, and executive functions.

Using groups of expert video game players as well as non-gamers participants played 21.5 hours of their assigned video game during the study period. The findings showed that expert gamers outperformed non-video game players, but the important conclusion was that the 21 hours of video game practice was not enough to develop similar benefits among non-video game players.

If the expert video game players outperformed the non-video game players and this performance cannot be explained by the 21 hours of practice the logical conclusion to drawn from this study is that the 21 hours of playing by the expert video game players did not produce these effects and therefore the possibility that the tens of thousands of hours that the expert video game players have played since early childhood produced broader transfer skills that they put to use later in life (Boot, et al., 2008).

35 Pertinent to the goals of this proposed study is an interest in research about the potential for video games to develop skills, interests, and behaviors that can be transferred to other nongaming contexts. A study by Borowiecki and Bakhshi (2017) showed that adults who played video games when they were younger were more likely as adults to read, paint, attend performing arts performances, and visit historical sites and libraries. None of the preferred artsbased activities favorited by the adult had any direct relation to the games they played as children, so the implication was that something from their video game playing habits while younger developed and transferred to interests outside of the video game context. Video games have been shown to have the potential to transfer interests from digital games to endeavors in real life. Children who regularly played sports video games were more likely to get involved in real team sports (Adachi & Willoughby, 2016).

Learning new skills or reinforcing existing skills have also been attributed to video game playing. The French Military Medical Service developed a video game to supplement the training of life-saving interventions in combat scenarios and found that the supplemental video game training did improve performance as assessed by hands-on simulation (Planchon, et al., 2018). Researchers in the field of medicine have begun looking at video games to improve and enhance skills. Surgery-related video games, if designed with sufficient complexity, have been shown to improve surgical skills (de Araujo, et al., 2016). Serious video games designed with the specific intention of assisting the teaching of nursing students has proven effective at improving their clinical reasoning and decision-making skills (Johnsen, et al., 2016).

Inexperienced endoscopic surgeons who self-identified as avid video game players outperformed some of the most experienced surgeons in their field (Rosser, et al., 2007). What these studies have in common is that the researchers looked at games that were specifically designed to

36 develop skills that would be used in similar situations outside of the video games. For this proposed study the interest is in games that were not designed to develop specific skills but may have done so whether intended or not.

Researchers have already shown the potential of video to transfer skills from the virtual world to the real world (Adachi & Willoughby, 2016; Boot, et al., 2008; Borowiecki & Bakhshi, 2017; de Araujo et al., 2016; Johnsen, et al., 2016; Rosser, et al., 2007). There are also many studies that look at the potential of games that were designed purely for entertainment purposes yet developed skills that transferred to novel situations. Playing a non-educational game such as Bejeweled Blitz, which is a fast-paced game requiring players to make very quick decisions, has improved reaction time and visual search accuracy in everyday tasks (Stroud & Whitbourne., 2015). Active video games, such as the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox Kinect, require players to get up and move around while motion sensors capture the player’s body movements and send signals to the game. Active video games have been shown to lead to an increase in movement skill in real life (Hulteen et al., 2015). In a recent study, skills such as communication skills, resourcefulness, and adaptability, necessary for success in higher education, increased after students were engaged with playing video games over an 8-week period (Barr, 2017). In another study to test the effects of video game playing researchers found that video game players were equivalent to trained pilots when it came to learn how to fly and land drones (McKinley, McIntire, & Funke, 2011). The common thread throughout each of these studies is the fact that none of the video games frequented by the participants in the studies were designed to intentionally teach or refine the skill that the games developed.

37 One thing that researchers have demonstrated is that development of skills that transfer from video games to novel situations is not limited to specific games designed for just such a purpose but that commercial, off the shelf entertainment games have the same potential to develop transferable skills. Portal 2, a popular entertainment video game was compared to Lumosity, a game specifically designed for brain training and researchers discovered that after 8 hours of playing the Portal 2 game players showed higher levels of problem-solving ability, spatial skills, and persistence (Shute, Ventura, & Ke, 2015).

When investigating whether skills can transfer from video games to real-life, researchers found that after forty hours of training with a real-life strategy game, players have shown significant increases in cognitive flexibility, specifically task-switching and working memory (Glass, Maddox, & Love, 2013). Video games are intrinsically rewarding, and most gamers report their video game playing as positive experiences (Oswald, Prorock, & Murphy, 2014).

Gamers integrate video games into their daily lives with few, if any, adverse social effects even though most label their own video game playing as excessive (Hussain & Griffiths, 2009). Some of the ease in which students integrate video games into their daily lives stems from the fact that their digital lives and engagement with technologies, both personal and educational, overlap (Gurung & Rutledge, 2014). When it comes to learning and developing new skills students generally feel very positive about using video games especially if the games are unpredictable in nature and include an ability and need to communicate with teammates (Barr, 2018).

The increasing popularity of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) supports the idea that video game players seek out games that include communication, collaboration, and sociability components (Yu, 2009). To be successful in MMORPGs players need to be able to synthesize, analyze, and evaluate information and apply

38 critical thinking and problem-solving skills (Susacta, et al., 2010). The skills required to be successful in a MMORPG mirror many of the 21st century skills and while the players develop and refine their skills to succeed in the game they may be indirectly developing necessary reallife skills as well. Games with designs that include communication and collaboration as well as shared goals among players can potentially cultivate cooperation to situations outside of gaming contexts (Morschheuser, et al., 2017). A common finding in much of the existing literature is that video games have the potential to develop skills for application in real world situations.

Moreover, this transfer of skills is not limited to educational games and even commercial off the shelf entertainment games can potentially develop real-world skills.

Evidence of transfer effects from video games to real-life is not limited to those of an educational nature. There have even been reported health benefits associated with the playing of video games. Despite the image many people have of obese, sedentary gamers sitting and playing video games for hours on end the idea that video game playing leads to obesity and sedentary behavior is not supported by the research. Nakamuro, et al. (2015) reported that hours of video game playing produced a negligible effect regarding obesity. Some video games, specifically action video games such as Nintendo’s Wii and the Xbox Kinect, have actually shown to have a positive effect on weight loss in children with players burning, on average, 381 calories per hour (Simons, et al., 2014). In fact, replacing sedentary video games with action video games was associated with improved health benefits although the same correlation does not hold true for replacing real outdoor play with active video games (Jannsen, 2016). For children with physical disabilities such as muscular dystrophy and spina bifida action video games improved their cardiovascular and functional outcomes (Rowland, et al., 2016). Action video games have also been shown to improve the gross motor skills of non-typically developing

39 children and adolescents (Page, et al., 2017). The researchers explored and examined nineteen studies related to action video games and the development of gross motor skills. They found that eleven studies showed significant improvements in one or more skills with a large effect size for balance. The health benefits of video games also extend to children with developmental delays.

Short-term interactive video game play, coupled with traditional rehabilitation was shown to improve the physical health of children with developmental delays (Hsieh, Lee, & Lin, 2016).

The evolution of augmented reality coupled with the increasing capabilities of mobile devices has opened a whole new set of video games that can potentially increase physical activity and lead to improved health benefits. The popular game Pokemon Go is a video game played on mobile devices using global positioning satellites (GPS) and utilizing the device’s mapping feature and camera. Players walk around collecting Pokemon located around the player’s current position. The Pokemon Go game encourages physical activity in that the only way to collect the Pokemon is to physically walk, using the GPS as a guide, to the Pokemon’s location. Players of the game have reported a higher level of physical activity compared to the level of physical activity before playing the game (Wagner-Greene, et al., 2017). Researchers have posited that playing Pokemon Go may increase physical activity by 50 minutes a week and decrease sedentary behaviors by 30 minutes (Nigg, Mateo, & An, 2017).

The research into the effects of video gaming on players’ mental health is rife with conflicting findings. Some researchers have posited that when individuals play video games there is a significantly lower association with depression and risk behaviors such as substance abuse (Durkin & Barber, 2002). Further research into this area, however, has produced results that led researchers to conclude that problem video game playing among males is associated with higher levels of anxiety while in females there is an association with depression (Gonzalves,

40 Espada, Tejeiro, 2017). More concerning, however, is a study of the relationship between video game play, suicide ideation, and the capability of suicide. Researchers have posited that individuals with suicide ideation who play video games may be more capable of harming themselves (Mitchell, et al., 2015).

Not all the research into the relationship between video games and mental health issues is negative. High video game usage among young children has been associated with a positive mental health outlook, decreasing problems with peer-relationships and increasing pro-social behaviors (Kovess-Masfety, et al., 2016). Additionally, 30 minutes of playing an active video game has been reported to decrease negative moods in children (Lee, Xiang, & Gao, 2017).

Violent video games, however, are likely to increase depression symptoms when individuals play more than two hours a day (Tortolero, et al., 2014). Video games that are played cooperatively or competitively have been shown to reduce stress (Roy & Ferguson, 2016).

Video games have often been linked with aggression, violence, and crime but like a lot of the research regarding video games the findings are inconsistent. A four-year longitudinal study conducted by Adachi and Willoughby (2016) led to a conclusion that competitive video game playing can lead to aggressive behavior. Over time, video game playing can be a predictor of higher levels of aggression (Adachi & Willoughby, 2016). In fact, Greitmeyer (2018) posited that violent video game playing not only increases aggression among players but also spreads to connections within the players’ social networks. Individuals who do not play violent video games reported an increase in aggression when their social network contains someone who does play violent video games. The implications of Greitmeyer’s (2018) research is that the possibility exists that the transfer of skills and attitudes from video games to real life is not limited to the individuals who play the game but can transfer from person to person as well.

41 An increase in the aggression can be explained by research about the influence that playing violent video games has on altering the gamers’ perceptions regarding aggression (Greitmeyer, 2014). The violent acts that gamers are exposed to during the playing of violent video games desensitize players and leads to bias towards what they consider aggressive. The increase in aggression does not automatically mean an increase in hostility or violence. In fact, researchers showed that hostility levels among teen players of violent video games did not increase or decrease following violent video game play even though it did increase stress levels among female players (Ferguson, et al., 2016).

Video games’ reputation for increasing violence and violent tendencies has been around almost as long as video games themselves. In 1983, when video games were still emerging as a popular activity among children then United States Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop, suggested that video games were a leading cause of family violence (Markey & Feguson, 2017).

Politicians and the media seem to quickly condemn video games as too violent each time there is a mass shooting or other horrific act of violence. After the latest school shooting in Florida, President Trump intimated that a decline in the values of society were partly to blame and that violent video games may be shaping young people’s minds and contributing to that decline (Salam & Stack, 2018). His comments were no different from comments made by other politicians who imply that the violence in video games somehow plays a role in the escalating violence in the real-world. Responding to the tragic school shooting that happened in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012 President Obama called for more research into the connection between violent video games and the increasing gun violence (Molina, 2013). The research into the relationship between violent video games and real violence does not support the rush to judgement to blame video games for increasing violent crimes. Researchers conducted a study

42 with a large, diverse sample of over 5,000 participants and concluded that family and other social variables are a bigger factor for predicting youth violence than video game playing (DeCamp & Ferguson, 2017).

Cunningham, Engelstatter, and Ward (2016) conducted a quasi-experimental study to identify the effects that violent video game sales had on violent crime. Using retail sales data of the top 30 selling video games and crime data for the same 6-year period from the Uniform Crime Report and the National Incident-Based Reporting System researchers showed that there was no evidence of any increase in crime but there was actually some evidence of a decrease in crime.

There are numerous studies that do show a link between video games and increases in violent tendencies. Greitemeyer and Sagiolou (2017) posited that everyday sadists, individuals that enjoy causing harm, are more likely to play violent video games. The data collected through their longitudinal study indicated that the relationship between everyday sadism and violent video games went both ways. Everyday sadists were drawn to video games and regular playing of violent games and exposure to the violence predicted everyday sadism over time.

Greitemeyer (2015) posited that sadists were drawn to violent video games because the violent acts and killing of characters within the games satisfies their need to be cruel and violent.

Video games and brain-based research. The brain’s capacity to learn and remember new information depends upon the ability of the brain to form new links and connections. This ability to forge new links and remake existing links is referred to as plasticity. Learning occurs whenever these new links are created within the brain. When this new learning is applied these links and connection are reinforced and made stronger. While plasticity exists in all brains there is greater plasticity in younger individuals with most of the links and connections being made in

43 early childhood (Pritchard, 2009). During adolescence these connections within the brain are physiologically strengthened and they can be triggered more quickly which in turn makes the brain function more efficient and increases the speed of cognitive functions (Robinson, 2017). In short, the brain is in a constant state of development and this development takes the form of the different areas of the brain connecting and communicating with each other. The more connections there are in an individual’s brain the higher the capacity for that individual to learn new information.

Research into how the brain develops and how children and adolescents learn has obvious implications into the research of how video games impact the brain. The greatest plasticity and strengthening of the connections occurs during children’s adolescence years. It coincides with the time in which they spend the greatest amount of time playing video games (Blumberg, et al., 2013; Lenhart et al., 2008; NPD Group, 2014).

Research into the brain and how learning occurs has evolved since the beginning of brain-based research. Neuroscientist Paul MacLean’s contribution to this body of knowledge has some bearing into the research into video games as a potential mechanism for developing transferable skills. MacLean (1990) took the previous brain research regarding right-side and left-side hemispheres to a new level when he coined the concept of a triune brain. He described three elements of the structure of the brain. The reptilian or instinct brain controls muscles, balance, and the autonomic functions such as breathing and heartbeat. This element of the brain is always active even in deep sleep. The second element of the brain is the midbrain or emotional brain. Also known as the limbic system this element controls emotions, eating patterns, sleep cycles, and is the location of long-term memory. Because this element of the brain contains the storage of all long-term memory as well as emotions MacLean (1990) posited

44 that individuals who are learning something new will generally experience more lasting and meaningful learning when it is connected to an emotional experience that is exciting, sad, or funny. The third element of the triune brain is the neocortex. This is the element that is separated into right and left hemispheres. The neocortex is thought of as the superior or rational brain. This element is used for problem-solving, establishing patterns of meaning, and for discerning relationships. The tasks that take place in the neocortex are referred to as executive functions. Executive function skills develop most rapidly during childhood and adolescence (Zelazo & Carlson, 2012). Because of the nature of the triune brain as delineated by MacLean (1990) the three elements at times work together cooperatively but also clash, with the needs of one element needing to be meet before the other elements can function optimally.

The more rational element of the brain does not fully develop in the average person until the person’s age is in the twenties (Bath, 2005). Until the more rational neocortex is fully developed children are more prone to impulsive behaviors. The emotional brain while seemingly kept in check by the logical element of the brain also, in many way, controls the neocortex. The neocortex, home to the executive functions, only functions when the other elements allow (Pritchard, 2009). Ideally all three elements of the brain work together seamlessly and in terms of learning, experiences that engage all elements of the triune brain are optimal for learning and retention of knowledge.

Video games engage all three elements of the triune brain. Playing video games requires players to watch the visuals that are projected on the screen while simultaneously listening to all of the sounds. Seeing and hearing engages the reptilian brain while the midbrain makes the emotional connections to what the player is seeing and hearing. Researchers Gentile, Bender, and Anderson (2016), in a ground-breaking study, showed the potential of video games to trigger

45 physiological responses in the brain. The researchers showed that violent video games activated the sympathetic nervous system as evidenced by the increase of salivary cortisol in the video game players (Gentile, et al., 2016). Lastly, the neocortex then applies the hearing, vision, language, and higher cognitive functions to respond intellectually to the stimuli from the video games. When video games engage players emotionally connections between the emotional center of the brain and long-term memory are forged. Skills developed though emotionally engaging activities are more likely to be stored in long-term memory and because of the emotional connection the skills are easier to be recalled and used later when needed. Zinn (2008) already showed the connection between emotions and long-term memory in a research study into the role that fun plays on enduring learning. Zinn (2008) posited that there are more connections made within the brain, which in turn leads to more lasting and meaningful learning, when learning experiences and situations are tied to emotions and there is an element of fun included in the activity.

Random facts and seemingly useless information does not lead to enduring learning unless this information can make it into a learner’s long-term memory and recalled when needed.

For new learning to occur and endure learners need to bring information from their long-term memory to working memory where it integrates with the new information before returning to long-term memory (Wetzels, Kester, & van Merrienboer, 2011). The prior learning provides the context in which the new learning is assimilated into long-term memory within the learner’s working memory and working memory has already been shown to benefit from the playing of video games (Ballesteros, et al., 2017; Backer et, al. 2014; Colzato, et al., 2013; Glass et al., 2013).

46 Oswald, Prorock, and Murphy (2014) built on the existing body of knowledge with a study to assess video game players’ self-reports of meaning to determine if the previous research identified all of the categories of meaning the players use in describing their own video game playing experiences. The study was unique in that it quantified data within a qualitative analysis to get a detailed picture of the perceived video game experiences of video game players in their own words. This study produced four major findings: (a) a majority of gamers describe game play as a positive emotional experience that is intrinsically rewarding, (b) there is a wide variety of goals that players seek to fulfill while playing, (c) there are many social themes (new friendships, strengthened relationships) connected to video game playing, and (d) the complex answers given by the participants highlight the difficulty of determining psychological effects on players when the focus is on evaluating game content.

Competition is inherent with rewards, both external and intrinsic. Video games are full of competition. Video game players complete with other players and even compete against themselves whenever they try to beat their best score or time or pass a level they have never passed before. This competition activates the reward centers in the players’ brains. Prior research has already highlighted that video game players perceive video games as intrinsically rewarding and the competition inherent in the games themselves is likely a contributing factor to the games’ appeal (Oswald, et al., 2014). In adolescents the reward centers of the brain are very active and most prone to activation by reward motivations (Albert & Steinberg, 2011). Changes within the brain’s structure have been documented by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) when participants engaged in video gaming tasks (Ping, et al., 2017). All of the characteristics of video games that activate responses within the players’ brains give video games the potential to create lasting changes in the way that gamers think and respond to novel situations.

47 Summary Due to the ever-changing educational priorities since the federal government’s involvement into local, community school decisions school districts are constantly struggling to implement the initiatives that seem to change with every new administration (Ellis, 2007; Howell, 2015; Johanningmeier, 2010; National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010; Ornestein & Hunkins, 2009; Pederson, 2007).

The current push for more high school students to continue their education at the college level has resulted in enormous pressure on school districts to increase the number of students enrolled in college (Howell, 2015). This pressure coupled with the open enrollment policies among institutions of higher learning has increased the number of students entering college who are academically under-prepared for the rigors of higher education (Bound, et al., 2010; Finkelstein & Thom, 2014). Many of these under-prepared students enroll in community colleges (Martin, et al., 2014; RTI International, 2016).

Faced with an influx of students who are academically under-prepared for college many community colleges have implemented interventions such as mandatory remedial courses to compensate for the lack of academic preparation (Pratt, 2017; Townsend & Twombly, 2007).

Unfortunately, these remedial courses probably do more harm than good and result in more students falling behind with their studies (Clotfelter, et al., 2015). As a result, most underprepared students drop out and do not graduate (Martin, et al., 2014; RTI International, 2016).

There are, however, many who do succeed despite their academic deficits. Under-prepared students can succeed if they enter the college experience with non-cognitive skills that afford them the mechanisms to compensate for their lack of academic preparation (Akos & Kretchmar, 2017; Beattie et al., 2018; Martin et al., 2014; Schaffer et al., 2015; Showers & Kinsman, 2017;

48 Sparkman, et al., 2012). The intention of this study is to identify successful community college students and examine the characteristics they feel enabled them to succeed.

To be successful in today’s rapidly changing technological age students need to develop crucial 21st century skills (P21, 2015; Redecker, et al., 2011; Soule & Warrick, 2015; Voogt & Roblin, 2012; Wilson, 2006). Many of the identified 21st century skills mirror the skills that successful under-prepared college students seem to possess and use to succeed where so many in their positions fail. A review of the literature has shown that many of the vital 21st century skills closely match many of the skills that are developed through video game playing. Although some video games, referred to as serious games, have been designed to develop specific skills or knowledge it has become clear through a search of the literature that most video games, including those designed solely for entertainment purposes, also develop skills. There is research that shows some of the transfer of skills from video game playing to tasks outside of gaming contexts (Adachi & Willoughby, 2016; Boot et al., 2008; Borowiecki & Bakhshi, 2017; de Araujo, et al. 2016; Hulteen, et al., 2015; McKinley, et al., 2011; Planchon, et al., 2018; Rosser, et al., 2007; Shute, et al., 2015; Stroud & Whitbourne, 2015). Most of the research, however, is focused on short-term transfer effects. Missing from the collective body of knowledge related to video games and skill development is an examination of more of the longterm transfer benefits from skills developed through video game play. These skills may manifest later in life that can be applied to novel situations outside video gaming contexts.

Video games have been shown to affect the development and function of the brain (Bath, 2005; Gentile, et al., 2016; MacLean, 1990; Prichard, 2009; Robinson, 2017; Wetzels, et al., 2011; Zinn, 2008). Brain-based research has implications for research into video games

49 specifically when the investigating the potential of video games to lead to long-term transfer of skills.

The way the children play video games and work through their frustrations and difficulties has a lot in common with what is known about constructivist theories of learning (Armstrong, 2015; Gredler, 2012; Vygotsky, 1978). Video gamers choose to play video games that are in their zone of proximal development (Hamlen, 2011; Vygotsky, 1978). They work through this zone by seeking help from more experienced players (Hamlen, 2014; Sjoblom & Hamari, 2017).

Executive function skills, the skills that give individuals cognitive control over their actions, thoughts, and emotions, seem to be more fully developed and engaged in the community college students who are currently on track to graduate on time (Martin et al., 2014). The development of executive function skills occurs most rapidly when students are younger (Zelazo & Carlson, 2012). Executive function skills are not explicitly taught in formal school settings but develop through a variety of different tasks and experiences. In the existing research there are a number of studies into how various video games can help develop different executive function skills (Buelow, 2015; Flynn & Richert, 2018; Hartanto, et al., 2016; Holfield, et al., 2015; Homer, et al., 2017; Oei & Patterson, 2014; Parong, et al., 2017). Missing from this research, however, is an examination of the impact that video game playing in middle and high school has on developing the skills that can be applied later when the same students enter college. Many under-prepared college students enrolled in community college might not even be aware of the skills they possess that enable them to succeed. Additionally, once made aware of such skills they may not understand how these skills developed. Something enabled the successful under-prepared college students to succeed while most in their position fail.

50 Examining their past video game experiences to investigate if the skills that they possess could have been developed through years of video game playing during their formative years would add to the literature and close an existing gap in the research.

51 Chapter 3: Research Method The specific problem that was addressed in this study is that current researchers have overlooked the potential of the transferability of needed 21st century skills from video game playing in middle school and high school to success in college many years later among underprepared college students. Exploring the lived experiences of successful community college students with a history of video game playing may discover a link between the skills developed through video game playing and skills necessary for college readiness and success. This study was exploratory in nature but may contribute to some emerging theories about the lasting effects of video game playing. This study answered the following research questions: Q1. What skills do under-prepared college students attribute to their potential to be successful in college?

Q2. What 21st century skills do students feel were developed or refined through video game playing?

Q3. Which video game genres were most frequently played by current college students while they were in middle and high school?

Research Design In this qualitative research study, the lived experiences of under-prepared college students were explored. Their perceptions of the effects of video game playing on the development of the necessary skills were gathered. This examination of the students’ lived experiences and perceptions was best conducted using a phenomenological method of inquiry (Moustakas, 1994). The goal of this research was to identify the skills that under-prepared college students attribute to their potential to be successful in college and which of these skills they feel were developed or refined through video game playing. A qualitative,

52 phenomenological study is one in which the researcher focuses on the experiences of the people being studied and how these people describe their experiences of a specific phenomenon and was best for a study of this nature (Berg, 2011; Moustakas, 1994).

The effects that a long-term history of video game play has on the development of skills that could be transferred and applied by under-prepared college students pursuing a degree is not a problem that would have best been studied through a quantitative approach. A quantitative, correlational study would only have been adequate if the focus of the present study was simply a comparison of the relationship between video game habits and college GPA. The nature of this study was more complex than measuring and comparing video game hours and college GPA. Creswell (2013) posited that a qualitative approach is more useful when the nature of the study is to go beyond simply understanding and explaining but placing the study in a particular context.

Because there is no single explanation to address the research problem and due to the fact that the multiple perspectives of the research participants were vital to gain a full understanding of the phenomenon being studied a qualitative approach was best (Leedy & Ormond, 2010). Using a qualitative approach afforded the researcher the opportunity to study the issue in depth (Butina, 2015). Specifically, a phenomenological study allowed for a better understanding of meaning as it is influenced by the unique perspectives of the students who are experiencing the phenomenon (Romdenh & Romluc, 2011).

Population/Sample The population for this study was current students enrolled in a State University Community College located in Westchester County, New York. The community college has approximately 13,000 students enrolled. Students enrolled in two-year community colleges are typically under-prepared for the demands of college level work and often do not graduate

53 (Martin, et al., 2014). To explore the effects that a history of video game playing has on college readiness an appropriate population from which to draw a sample would be college students who lack this readiness. All the students enrolled in this community college make up the population.

From this population of under-prepared college students, a sample was drawn made up of students who were on track to graduate and had a history of playing video games in middle school and high school. Under-prepared students who attend a community college but are on track to graduate have succeeded where most students in their position have failed (RTI International, 2016). Researchers have already posited that some under-prepared college students can overcome their deficiencies and succeed in college if they enter college with skills that help them to compensate for their academic deficits (Martin, et al., 2014). The sample for this proposed study was comprised of under-prepared college students who were on track to graduate. This sample was narrowed further to include only students who had a history of playing video games while they were in middle school and high school. The goal was to have an appropriate sample of students who fit the criteria of being on track to graduate and have a history of playing video games to attain saturation of data (Moustakas, 1994). While there is no set number for an appropriate sample size in a phenomenological study the goal was to reach a level of saturation of data where any new information became repetitive, further questioning led to no new data, and there was enough information for this study to be replicated (Fusch & Ness, 2015; Mason, 2010; Moustakas, 1994). The purposive sampling aligned with the purpose of the research and participants were only recruited who had experience with the phenomenon being studied. For the purposes of this study the target number of participants will be at least 10 students on track to graduate with a history of video game playing.

54 Instrumentation For this qualitative, phenomenological study semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted using an anonymous online survey and follow-up e-mails when necessary. The objective was to use open-ended questions with the participants to gain a better understanding of the lived experiences of under-prepared college students regarding their previous history of video game playing. Moustakas (1994) posited that in-depth, semi-structured interviews with openended questions is the appropriate approach as that it affords the ability to focus on the unique perspectives of the under-prepared college students as they experience a common phenomenon.

The semi-structured interviews provided an opportunity to consider the participants’ personal accounts of their lived experiences. From the preliminary questions, and based on the responses of the participants, supplemental questions were asked to gain a full understanding of the students’ experiences.

Oswald, Prorock, and Murphy (2014) demonstrated that through interviews, video gamers can articulate enough about their video game experiences to extract meaningful data for analysis. The plan was to ask questions that could not be answered with simple yes or no responses so that the students were encouraged to elaborate about their experiences. The plan was to start with four interview questions that were developed specifically for this study and follow up with additional questions if necessary (see Appendix A). Each of the interview questions were written specifically to collect the experiences of the students as it related to the research questions guiding the study. The questions were field tested with a small group of college students that were not connected to this study in order to ensure that the questions were clear and capable of eliciting answers that would generate sufficient data for analysis.

55 Study Procedures Prior to data collection IRB approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Boards of Northcentral University as well as the study site. Data were gathered from the participants through semi-structured online interviews. The questions were open-ended, and each student was given ample time and opportunity to elaborate on their experiences and history of video game playing. After brief preliminary questions to screen out potential participants who did not fit the parameters of the sample, open-ended questions were asked that were designed to elicit the students’ experiences and perspectives. Contingent upon what the participants shared in their responses to the planned interview questions follow up questions were e-mailed to some of the students so that the students were able to elaborate on their experiences and perspectives. Some of the follow up questions were used to clarify the initial responses or fill in any gaps left by the preliminary questions.

The collected data were analyzed and coded to identify common themes. Once the data were organized thematically, smaller chunks of data were grouped together within each theme.

After the themes were established a closer reading of the answers and notes were conducted and information was identified as either relevant or irrelevant. Irrelevant information was filed in the event there is a need or use for it at a later time. Relevant information was organized within the existing thematic structure.

Assumptions The research participants for this study were identified and selected because they met specific criteria related to video game playing and college readiness. The students participated in this study voluntarily. It can be assumed that each participant was open and honest in their responses. Since each participant volunteered for this study it can be assumed that each student’s

56 involvement was by their own free will. Lastly, it can be assumed that the researcher did not hold any preconceived notions about the phenomenon being studied, did not have any personal connections with the participants, and set aside personal beliefs and opinions to maintain subjectivity during both the data collection and data analysis.

Limitations Participants for this study were recruited from only one community college. All of the students enrolled in this community college are commuting students and live within the same surrounding community. Regarding transferability, using only one community college was a limitation in that the data collection will be from one perspective and may miss the subtle regional differences that participants might express had the study been widened to include colleges from other geographic regions. Another limitation of this study is that the participants were asked to remember and reflect on their video game playing history when they were middle and high school students. While an assumption can be made that their responses were honest, the accuracy of the participants’ memories cannot be controlled or assumed as confidently. In this study students’ lived experiences were collected through online surveys and the student selection was based on their video game playing history and their success in college. The study was limited in that the focus was narrow and did not take into consideration differences regarding gender, race, and socio-economic status. Because the data collected were from the perspectives of the students being studied, credibility could be a limitation in that only they would be able to determine whether or not the findings are credible.

Delimitations There are certain parameters of this study that were controlled. First, selection of the participants was limited to community college students who were on track to graduate and had a

57 history of video game playing in middle and high school. Intentionally excluded from the study were students who did not have any experience or history playing video games as well as students who dropped out or were not on track to graduate. Another delimitation is that this study excluded the perspectives of teachers, administrators, and parents and focused only on the lived experiences of the students. The locations for the follow-up interviews were selected based on mutual convenience and were free of disruptions and distractions.

Ethical Assurances As the researcher for this study I adhered to the ethical practices of the doctoral dissertation process and complied fully with the ethical principles delineated in The Belmont Report (US Department of Health and Human Services, 1979) as well as those outlined by the American Psychological Association (2012). I also complied with Northcentral University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) policy as well as all regulations regarding research with human subjects. I ensured that no data were collected prior to obtaining IRB approval.

The Belmont Report (US Department of Health and Human Services, 1979) established the fundamental ethical principles of respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. To ensure respect for persons all participants were treated as autonomous individuals, they were informed about the nature of the study and what their rights were regarding their intentions to participate or withdraw from the study. Full disclosures about all aspects of the study were disseminated to each participant prior to receiving their informed consent and before any data were collected.

The ethical principle of beneficence dictated that the well-being of the test subjects be secured.

This study held minimal, if any, risks of harm for the participants. Nothing that was asked of the subjects in any way compromised their well-being. Lastly, researchers were guided by the ethical principle of justice. Participants for this study were identified based solely on expediency

58 and reflected the diversity of the population from which the sample was drawn. Participants from this study were drawn from a population in which each participant was equally likely to have experienced the same phenomenon that was being studied. Participants from vulnerable populations were not singled out for the purposes of this study.

Privacy and confidentiality were maintained throughout all aspects of the research process. The storage of all data and research related documentation will be handled in a manner to minimize the risk of a security breach and loss of confidentiality. All electronic communications as well as written transcripts of data were properly stored and archived and will be destroyed in a secure manner upon conclusion of the study.

When reporting the research findings, accuracy and truthfulness was ensured. There was no bias in the selection of data that were reported, nor were any data intentionally omitted or fabricated. Lastly, when writing utmost care was taken to avoid any form of plagiarism all references that were used received proper citations.

Summary Video games are ubiquitous and are played by an overwhelming majority of teens (Lenhart et al., 2008). There is a gap in the research regarding the long-term effects that video game playing has on students as they prepare to enter college. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to examine the perceptions of under-prepared college students regarding their prior video game playing habits and the perceived effect the video game playing had on their college readiness and success. The sample for this study was selected from a population of two-year community college students because they are typically under-prepared for college (Martin, et al., 2014). Students who were on track to graduate at the time of this study were succeeding when most of the students in their position fail. From these successful

59 students those with a history of playing video games were recruited to participate in this study.

Using semi-structured, online interviews, I investigated the lived experiences of the underprepared college students and gained an understanding of their perceptions of what role, if any, their past history of video game playing had on their development of skills necessary to be successful in college.

60 Chapter 4: Findings The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of underprepared college students regarding the effects that they feel their video game playing in middle school and high school had on the development of college readiness skills. More specifically, this research focused on the lived experiences of community college students and the skills that they attribute to their success in college and which of these skills they feel were developed through video game playing when they were younger. For this study, phenomenology was the research methodology used as it focused on the unique perspectives of the participants who experienced the phenomenon being studied (Moustakas, 1994). Whenever possible, the words of the participants are provided to contribute to a better understanding of the different perspectives shared by the students. The data for this study were collected by utilizing semistructured interviews via an online, anonymous survey. Hussain and Griffiths (2009) demonstrated that an online survey type of semi-structured interviews was feasible in that it produced good data for analysis.

Participants for this study were recruited via e-mail. An invitation to participate in this study was sent from the Institutional Review Board of the community college that was selected as the study site to all current students and students who graduated in the past two years.

Because there is no set number for an appropriate sample size in a phenomenological study the goal was to receive enough responses to attain a level of saturation of data (Fusch & Ness, 2015; Mason, 2010; Moustakas, 1994). For the purposes of this study the target number of participants was at least 10 students on track to graduate or recently graduated and who also had a history of video game playing. Fifty-one students responded to the invitation to participate in this study.

Five participants were not included in the study because they were not on track to graduate or

61 they did not have a history of playing video games while they were in middle school and high school. The data for this study were collected from 46 under-prepared college students all of whom were recent graduates or on track to graduate and also had a history of video game playing in middle and high school.

Results Survey-based, qualitative interview data were used to formulate the findings of this study for evaluation. The data collection process consisted of the participants answering four openended interview questions via an online, anonymous survey. Participants were screened to determine eligibility and ensure that they met the parameters of the study. By utilizing skip logic in the design of the survey only students who had recently graduated or were on track to graduate and also reported a history of video game playing were directed to the interview questions related to the study. Non-eligible participants were skipped to the end of the survey, thanked for their responses to the screening questions, and received no further questions to avoid any contamination of the data from participants outside of the population being studied. Each participant was asked for an e-mail address other mode of contact for follow-up questions to clarify their initial responses if necessary. Providing an e-mail address or other method of communication could potentially make the participant identifiable and was therefore completely voluntary. Nonetheless, every participant provided an e-mail address for follow-up communication if needed. No follow-up e-mails to participants for response clarifications were necessary. The findings of this study will be discussed, organized by the research questions, and evaluated to draw conclusions.

Research question 1. What are some of the shared lived experiences and skills that under-prepared college students attribute to their potential to be successful in college?

62 Responses from the first two interview questions were used to address the first research question regarding the experiences and skills that under-prepared college students attributed to their success in college. Most community college students do not graduate or are not on track to graduate after six years (Martin, et al., 2014; RTI International 2016). The community college students that participated in this study were selected for participation because they have recently graduated or were on track to graduate. In short, these students are succeeding where most in their position fail.

Some researchers have posited that under-prepared college students may be better served by focusing less on remediation courses and more on developing life-long learning attributes as well as non-academic skills and strengths (Schaffer, et al., 2015). To investigate whether the successful college students who participated in this study have some of the non-academic skills and strengths needed for success they were asked the following two interview questions.

Interview question 1. Many college students who enroll in community college do not graduate. You were selected for this study because you have graduated or are on track to graduate. What do you feel are some of your strengths that enable you to succeed where most in your position fail?

Interview question 2. What skills did you enter college with that you feel most contributed to your success in college?

In previously conducted studies researchers have delineated many skills and attributes that contribute to success in college. These skills have been referred to as non-academic skills, non-cognitive skills, and emotional intelligence skills. Regardless of the term used to describe these collective skills, the individual skills identified by the researchers are consistent throughout their studies. This study was conducted, in part, to investigate if the perceptions shared by

63 under-prepared college students who lack the academic preparation to succeed in college mirror the existing research. The answers that the participants gave for the interview questions related to the first research question were organized into three themes: (a) grit, (b) managing external demands, and (c) self-empowerment.

Grit. The ability to stay focused on goals while maintaining a consistent effort throughout the pursuit of such goals has been referred to as grit (Akos & Kretchmar, 2017).

While none of the participants in this study specifically referred to grit as one of the reasons they feel they have been successful in college their responses seem to indicate that some measure of grit was involved. Participants identified some of their strengths as “being able to stay focused on my goals”, “sticking with things even when they get tough”, as well as “perseverance” and “determination”. Over a quarter of the participants, when asked about their strengths and skills, responded that they felt that their “determination” played a role in why they are able to be successful. Many of the participants made statements such as “I like to finish what I’ve started” or “I don’t like leaving things half done and not finished”.

Managing external demands. Often times under-prepared college students fail because in addition to their lack of academic preparation they lack some of the vital skills necessary to cope with all of the competing demands on their time. Managing these external demands was identified as a key attribute that can predict college success (Martin, et al. 2014). Many of the participants gave responses to the first two interview questions with answers that spoke to their ability to handle the situations that compete for their time that would have led to their eventual failure had they not possessed some strengths and skills to handle these external demands. A few of the students credited their ability to multitask as to why they feel they have been successful in school. Many of them referred to their ability to “work under pressure” or “remain

64 calm when pressured” but a lot of the students chalked up their success to “good time management” the ability to “prioritize and balance” and “focus”. Regardless of the phrases they used to describe their strengths it was apparent that the management of external demands was something that was shared amongst a lot of the students who participated in this study.

Self-empowerment. Setting goals, making plans, and figuring out ways to work through difficulties that arise along the way are some of the self-empowerment skills that researchers have posited are college readiness skills that can sometimes make all the difference in the success rate of under-prepared college students (Martin, et al., 2014;Voogt & Roblin, 2012).

The students in this study identified from their experiences a few skills and attributes that would fall into the category of self-empowerment skills. While some of the participants specifically mentioned setting goals and making plans to achieve these goals, some students shared experiences that were related to working through difficulties. A recurring strength that was identified by many of the participants was the ability to seek help when needed. Many of the participants mentioned their ability to “Google stuff” when they were stuck with something they did not know. One participant credited Google and its “instant answers” for helping work through problems when stuck. Another student said that “Googling stuff was sometimes worth the time”. It was apparent from the participants’ responses that help seeking behavior was shared among many of these successful under-prepared college students.

Research question 2. What 21st century skills do students feel were developed or refined through video game playing?

The fourth interview question was used to gain an understanding of the students’ perspectives regarding the impact that video game playing in middle school and high school had

65 on the development or refinement of 21st century skills. The data collected from this interview question was used to address research question two.

Interview question 4. Are you familiar with the concept of 21st century skills? Which, if any, of these skills do you feel were developed or refined through video game playing?

Researchers have already delineated the skills that are considered necessary for the 21st century. Collectively referred to as 21st century skills they include critical thinking, creative problem solving, communication, collaboration, finding and accessing information quickly, learning new skills, planning, flexibility, responsibility, creativity, risk taking, self-regulation, resilience, networking, effective use of technology, and the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn to adapt quickly to changes (P21, 2015; Redecker, et al., 2011; Soule & Warrick, 2015; Voogt & Roblin, 2012; Wilson, 2006).

Many of the participants of this study admitted to an unfamiliarity of the concept of 21st century skills but listed skills they felt that they refined or developed through video game playing nonetheless. A number of the participants were familiar with 21st century skills and their responses matched the terminology posited by 21st century skills researchers exactly. Those that expressed no familiarity with 21st century skills listed their skills albeit with slightly different wording than the existing literature. Despite some of the subtle differences in terminology the skills identified by all of the participants matched the skills previously delineated by 21st century skills researchers. The skills that the participants identified through their answers to the fourth interview question are outlined in Table 1. The skills are ranked in the table by frequency of the responses with the response given by the most participants listed first. Multiple participants shared similar or identical responses and reflected in this table are their response coupled with the corresponding 21st century skill identified by researchers.

66 Table 1 21st Century Skills as Identified by the Participants Compared to Existing Research Identified by Participants Critical thinking, reasoning Communication/Social Technological literacy Collaboration Creativity Problem solving Flexibility Finding information Reflexes/Reaction time Planning, strategy Approach problems differently Initiative Time management, focus, decision making Focus, ambition, determination

Identified by Research Critical Thinking Communication Effectively use technology Collaboration Creativity Problem solving Flexibility Find and access information quickly Adapt quickly to change Planning Creatively solve problems Risk taking Self-regulation Resilience

Research question 3. Which video game genres were most frequently played by current college students while they were in middle school and high school and which skills do they feel were developed or refined?

The third interview question was used to specifically address research question three. It was important to understand, from the participants’ perspectives, the games they played most frequently and the skills that they feel were important to do well. In order to investigate which video game genres were most frequently played and which skills the students perceived were necessary to do well in their favorite games the following interview question was asked.

Interview question 3. Think back to the video games you played when you were in middle school and high school. What were some of your favorite games? Describe the game, the skills you needed to have in order to do well in the games, and how often you played them.

67 The answers that the students gave varied in not only the answers that they reported but in the depth of their responses as well. Some students included many details regarding their favorite games, the time they spent playing these games, and the skills they needed to do well in the games. While all of the students included a description of their favorite games and a summary of their skills a majority of the students who responded to this question did not provide enough information regarding the frequency of their video game playing.

Although video gamers are often portrayed as cognitively lazy, Hamlen (2011) demonstrated that gamers dislike video games without challenges that are deemed too easy and will seek out games that are difficult and require a higher level of thinking. Based on the types of games that the participants in this study indicated were their favorites it appears that this finding from previous research is accurate. The most favorite genres as identified by the participants included First-Person Shooter, Role Playing, Action-Adventure, Life Simulation, Strategy, and Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games.

First-Person Shooters. The game that was most commonly identified as a favorite game was Call of Duty. Many of the students listed it among the games they played most while in middle school and high school. The skills that are necessary to be successful in this game, according to those who responded to the survey, include quick reaction time, good eye-hand coordination, and teamwork skills. These three skills were listed as necessary to do well in this game by almost all of the students who identified this game as one of their favorites. Halo, another game mentioned by many respondents, requires “quick thinking and reacting” according to the players. Skills such as “trial and error”, “teamwork”, “strategy”, and “coordination” were identified as necessary to do well in some of the other First-Person Shooter games such as Resident Evil, Fortnite, Ghost Recon, Overwatch, and Counter Strike: Global Offensive.

68 Role Playing Games. The game genre that seems to require the most diverse skill set in order to be successful is the Role Playing Game (RPG) genre. As a genre it is by far the most popular among all of the participants in this study. Within this genre the game that was most often listed as a favorite was a game called Final Fantasy. According to the students, the skills required to do well in this game include “patience”, “strategy”, and “resource management”.

Strategy was also identified as a requisite skill in many of the other RPGs including, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, and Undertale. Many of the participants indicated that they were drawn toward games within the RPG genre because of the unique challenges they offered. They used descriptions such as “hard but fun”, “frustrating at times”, and “incredibly rewarding when you finally complete a task you’ve been working on for hours”. In fact, skills such as “patience”, “planning”, and “trial and error” were identified as important for a lot of the games in this genre including Spiderman, Dark Souls, Harvest Moon, and the aforementioned Final Fantasy.

Action-Adventure. Another very popular video game genre was the Action-Adventure category. Games in this genre are more fast-paced compared with the games in the other genres.

Many respondents identified skills such as “quick thinking”, “reaction time”, and “an ability to make quick decisions on the fly” as important in order to succeed in these types of games. Two of the favorites within this genre were Grand Theft Auto and Assassin’s Creed and both require, in addition to “reaction time”, skills such as “dedication” and “trial and error”. Based on the gamers’ perceptions multiple attempts are required before certain tasks could be mastered and the gamers could advance to the next level or task. Being able to stick with increasingly difficult tasks until succeeding seemed to be a common theme among the games in this genre. The Action-Adventure genre was one of the few genres in which the respondents indicated the amount of time they spent playing video games. One participant recalled “getting lost in the

69 game” and “losing track of time” playing for “multiple hours at a time”. Some lesser known games in this genre such as Beyond Two Souls, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney, God of War, and Tom Clancy: Splinter Cell included tasks or missions that required a lot of “patience”, “dedication”, and “trial and error”. Quick reflexes and fast reaction time, while important for success, were not enough to successfully navigate the complexities of these games and multiple attempts and learning from previous mistakes is crucial for success according to the gamers that favored this genre. Within this genre the game that was most often identified as a favorite was a game called The Legend of Zelda. This game was preferred by many of the gamers because of its difficulty. Respondents used descriptions such as “really hard” and “made me think critically” to describe the Legend of Zelda games. The games contain “multiple puzzles” and to be successful players need to solve each one to advance to the next. These puzzles require “concentration”, patience”, “determination”, “critical thinking”, and “common sense” and a common theme among the gamers was the sense of accomplishment that came with the completion of a puzzle after multiple unsuccessful attempts. Persevering through difficulty and seeing tasks through completion was often cited as a reason this game was so attractive to some of the gamers. One respondent claimed that this game had such an impact on her life that she has two Legend of Zelda tattoos.

Massively multiplayer online. The massively multiplayer online (MMO) genre includes popular games such as Minecraft, Skyrim, and World of Warcraft. The draw of these games, as expressed by those who favor them, is their “no boundaries” and “free roam nature” where players can essentially “do whatever you want”. In World of Warcraft players can collaborate with others and battle other groups of players. Skills such as “teamwork”, “collaboration”, “planning”, “strategy”, and “quick thinking” are necessary to play and do well. Skyrim, another

70 MMO, is more “quest oriented” where, according to those who play this game, players work together on “missions and quests” to achieve specific objectives. Teamwork and collaboration are essential skills and players indicated they have ‘developed good communication skills” and learned how to “work with others to solve problems”.

Garry’s Mod and Minecraft were two other games that were often referenced as a favorite. Games like these are referred to as sandbox games because according to one respondent “there are no clear goals or objectives you just create and build things”. The students who listed these games are their favorites were attracted to the “openness” and “anything is possible” nature of the gameplay. One participant recalled playing Minecraft 35-40 hours per week. Without any specific goals or objectives players in these types of games have the freedom to “wander around an do anything”. The skills that were identified as being necessary for many of the sandbox games include “planning”, “organization”, and “creativity”.

Finally, some of the less popular games were those identified by only a single participant and they included titles such as Sims, Life is Strange, Detroit Becoming Human, Dead By Daylight, Animal Crossing, Gears of War, Hearts of Iron, Smite, Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal, and the Super Mario Brothers. According to the perspectives of the players of these games the skills that were developed or refined included “communication and collaboration”, “teamwork”, “socialization”, “quick thinking”, “strategy”, “attention to detail”, “decision making”, and “quick thinking and reflexes”.

Evaluation of Findings Overall this study was designed to explore the perceptions of under-prepared college students regarding how they feel that their past video game playing affected their college readiness. Comparing the lived experiences of under-prepared college students related to the

71 factors that contribute to their success to the existing literature of this phenomenon was one goal of this study and the focus of the first research question. The second research question was designed to gain an understanding of the 21st century skills that the students feel were developed or refined through their past video game playing. The purpose of this aspect of the study was to see if the students perceived that their video game habits developed skills that research has already established as important for college success. Lastly, analyzing the video games this population frequented in middle school and high school with a specific focus on the skills necessary for success in these games was a third goal of this research and connects the first two research questions together.

Research question 1. Previous researchers have posited a relationship between college success among under-prepared college students and the existence of non-academic skills and strengths that the students possessed when they entered college (Schaffer, et al., 2015). An analysis of the data collected in this study seems to support these previous findings. The students who participated in this study were selected specifically because they were underprepared, academically, for college. Despite this lack of academic preparation these students are succeeding in their pursuit of a college degree when most in their position drop out or fail. Some have posited that their success may be due to a set of skills and strengths that they possess that enable them to overcome their academic deficiencies. The perspectives of the successful, underprepared college students who participated in this study were analyzed to determine if their own perceptions of the skills and strengths they feel that they possess that they attribute to their success mirror the skills and strengths previously identified by researchers as those that contribute to college success. The findings of this study seem to support the existing research

72 about non-academic skills and strengths that enable under-prepared college students to succeed in college.

Persistence and determination as well as an ability to manage external demands are some of the skills and strengths, supported by existing research, that contribute to college success (Beattie, et al., 2008; Martin, et al., 2014). The present study supports the same conclusion as evidenced by the responses the students’ gave regarding their own skills and strengths. Almost all of the participants in this study identified skills and strengths they possessed that spoke to their determination to succeed, their persistence through hardships and challenges, and their ability to manage the demands on their time and attention that could potentially distract them from their pursuit of a higher education. Of all of the various skills delineated by researchers as non-academic college readiness skills these three skills were the ones most often attributed by the students involved in this study as the skills and strengths that contributed to their success.

Many of the participants spoke to their ability to stay focused on their goals. They attributed their success to their determination and perseverance. Grit, the ability to maintain a consistent effort towards a goal despite unexpected setbacks has been posited to be a determining factor in the difference between success and failure particularly among under-prepared college students (Akos & Kretchmar, 2017). Through the words of the participants in this study it is clear that many of the students feel that their success is possible because of their ability to stay focused on their goals and maintain their effort without giving up. In other words they attribute their success to grit. While the participants did not specifically use the term grit to describe their strengths the terminology they did use was consistent with the concept of grit.

73 The findings of this study clearly showed that the perceptions of the students are that their non-academic strengths and skills enable them to be successful. Though the interview questions asked them to share what they feel help them to succeed the questions did not specifically ask them to limit their responses to only non-academic skills and strengths. It was interesting that not a single respondent, when asked about what helped them succeed in college, mentioned anything about academic preparation, knowledge of specific content, or any other skill or strength directly related to academics. In fact, all of the students who participated in this survey responded with non-academic strengths and skills. Many of the participants responded with descriptions of their own characteristics and every single description reflected nonacademic strengths. It was interesting that not a single participant attributed academic preparation, or even good study skills for that matter, as a contributing factor towards their success. The findings of this study, through the perceptions of the lived experiences of those being studied, mirrors and confirms the existing research into the factors that contribute to college success among under-prepared college students (Akos & Kretchmar, 2017; Beattie, et al., 2018; Martin, et al., 2014; P21, 2015; Redecker, et al., 2011; Schaffer, et al., 2015; Showers & Kinsman, 2017; Soule & Warrick, 2015; Voogt & Roblin, 2012).

Research question 2. After establishing that the under-prepared college students involved in this study entered college with some skills and strengths that they perceive helped them to be successful it was important to start to look at some of the skills they feel were developed through video game playing. Many of the skills that are necessary for college success have already been linked to the 21st century skills delineated by researchers (P21, 2015; Redecker, et al., 2011; Soule & Warrick, 2015; Voogt & Roblin, 2012; Wilson, 2006). Although many of the students expressed a lack of familiarity with the concept of 21st century skills they

74 were very forthcoming with specific skills they feel were developed or refined through video game playing. The skills that the students shared, whether they realized they were 21st century skills or not, closely matched the skills previously established by research.

Some minor differences in terminology notwithstanding the skills delineated by the students involved in this study can be directly matched to the established 21st century skills. The 21st century skills that researchers have established include critical thinking, communication, effective use of technology, collaboration, creativity, problem solving, flexibility, finding and accessing information quickly, adapting quickly to change, planning, creatively solving problems, taking risks, self-regulation, and resilience (P21, 2015; Redecker, et al., 2011; Soule & Warrick, 2015; Voogt & Roblin, 2012; Wilson, 2006). Some of the responses by the students, even from those who acknowledged no familiarity of the concept of 21st century skills, included critical thinking, collaboration, communication, problem solving, planning, creativity, and technological literacy. These concepts match the existing 21st century skills verbatim. Other skills identified by the students included concepts, whether they were aware of it or not, connect to 21st century skills. When students talk about learning how to focus, manage their time, or prioritize the tasks that need their attention they are listing self-regulation skills. Many of the students acknowledged using Google and looking at different sources for information, and even seeking help when necessary and these are all 21st century skills.

Lastly, almost every single respondent listed as one of the skills they developed through video game playing an increase in their reaction time and improvement of their reflexes. The 21st century skills include the ability to pivot and change quickly to rapidly changing situations as an essential skill. If the perceptions that the students shared are any indication of how video games can affect the development of necessary skills the fast-paced nature of video games with

75 their rapidly changing situations are developing skills that prepare students for the rapid changes that they will face in real life.

Research question 3. The final research question ties this study together. The first research question established the perspectives that the students have regarding the skills that they entered college with that helped them succeed. The second research question looked at skills that were developed through video game playing. The third research question examines the specific games and genres that the students played back when they were in middle school and high school. The students were asked to share the specific skills that they needed to use to do well in their favorite games. By focusing on the specific games that the students identified as their favorites it can be assumed that they would be games that the students played more than others. In fact, the students that reported the hours that they spent playing their favorite games reported times as high as 35-40 hours per week. The students reflected on the games they played the most when they were in middle school and high school. They shared the titles of their favorite games and the skills needed to do well in these games. An analysis of the data regarding the video game choices and skills associated with the games has led to some unique findings as well as support for findings from previous research studies.

Difficult video games, those that require a higher level of thinking and present difficult challenges, are preferred over games that are too easy. Hamlen (2011) has posited that video game players dislike and will reject games without challenges and will seek out games that engage them cognitively. This study supports this finding in that all of the games that were listed by the students as their favorites are games that would be considered difficult and challenging.

When the students described their favorite games they specifically acknowledged that the challenging nature of the games is what they enjoyed the most. Almost all of the respondents, in

76 one way or another discussed that the difficulty of the video games they preferred and the frustration they felt at times playing was what attracted them to the game in the first place. The data clearly showed that difficult games were more frequently preferred over any other type of game.

Many of the participants in this study discussed the multiple attempts that were necessary to succeed in a lot of the games they played. The sophisticated nature of the favorite video games meant that the students would need to play often to improve their skills and advance in the game. Theoretically, video games epitomize constructivist theorist Lev Vygotsky’s theory of the zone of proximal development. According to Vygotsky (1978) students cannot learn from tasks that are too easy or too hard and only learn in the zone just outside what they are capable of doing on their own. Students learn from more capable peers of adults or through trial and error.

All of the participants in this study, in one way or another, referred to the need to make multiple attempts at various points in their favorite games to succeed. The participants discussed how often they would play, try, fail, try again, and ultimately succeed. Failing forward, another 21st century skill is one of the tenets of Vygotsky’s theory and was a consistent skill shared by so many of the participants of this study.

Help seeking behavior and resilience, are other important skills for success later in life, and they are something shared by participants in this study. When playing video games, and faced with a difficult task or challenge the students have expressed that quitting or giving up was not an option. Some shared the measures that they would take in order to accomplish their goals.

Whether it was watching other people play the same game on the Internet or Googling tips and hints the players maintained their dedication to finish their games and they sought out the resources necessary to help them accomplish that goal. The help seeking behavior and resilience

77 that the students shared when discussing the skills that they feel they developed through video game playing was interesting. It was very clear from the participants’ responses that as frustrated as they got at times they would not quit until they succeeded in their games. They mentioned many times the steps they would take to do well before they would even consider giving up. They did not use words like resilience or grit but the behaviors they described were definitely indicative of such characteristics.

Summary Success in college when students are not academically prepared is often a result of nonacademic skills and strengths that afford the students an ability to persevere and succeed despite adequate preparation. Studies have identified some of these skills and strengths and this present study sought to compare the lived experiences of under-prepared college students who are currently succeeding in college to determine if they possess these non-academic skills.

Furthermore, this study also explored the video game playing history of the same under-prepared college students while they were in middle in high school to examine if their perceptions of their video game playing habits when they were younger developed any of the skills and strengths that later they were able to apply toward the pursuit of the college degree. First, each participant in this study was asked about their perceptions regarding their own skill set or strengths that they attribute to their success in college. Next, their video game playing history was explored to determine which games they played while they were middle and high school students. Through surveys they identified the games they played the most when they were younger and they recalled the various skills they needed or developed to do well in said games. Lastly, the underprepared college students were asked about their knowledge of 21st century skills, skills that

78 mirror the skills necessary for success in college, and specifically which of these skills they feel they developed of refined through their video game playing in middle and high school.

Throughout the course of this study the findings were consistent with much of the existing research however this study contributed some new connections that previous researchers had not yet investigated. While the relationship between 21st century skills and college readiness skills has been examined as well as the connection between video games and 21st century skills this was the first study to examine the perceptions of college students regarding the specific skills the feel were developed through past video game playing. Moreover, this study was the first to examine, through the lived experiences of those being studied, whether the skills that were developed from video game playing mirror the skills that contributed to their success in college. In short, through this study the perceptions of successful underprepared college students were examined to investigate whether their past video game playing developed any of the skills and strengths that led to their college readiness later in their lives.

The perceptions that the under-prepared college students shared regarding the skills that they feel helped them to succeed in college closely matched the skills that previously were shown to relate to college success. The students were able to articulate the strengths that they feel that they possessed that enabled them to succeed in the pursuit of a higher education. An analysis of their reflections showed an alignment with the existing research related to nonacademic skills associated with college readiness. To investigate whether these skills were developed through video game play further questioning was used to determine the video games most frequently played by the students and to delineate the skills that were necessary to play these games.

79 Video games are ubiquitous and there is a wide variety of games and genres to choose from yet many of the participants of this present study shared a common preference for games that were difficult and required a higher level of thinking. All of the video games that were identified by the students involved in this study as the ones they spent the most time playing while they were in middle school and high school required certain skill sets that mirror the skills that have been identified as skills that can lead to success in college despite a lack of academic preparation. To further investigate any possible link between video game playing and the development of college readiness skills the students’ perspectives were analyzed to determine what link, if any, they feel exists between the skills they feel were developed through their video game playing and the skills that are collectively referred to as 21st century skills. Whether they were familiar with 21st century skills or not the students were able to articulate a number of skills that they feel were developed or refined through their history of video game playing when they were younger. An analysis of the skills they listed matched, with minor differences in terminology, the skills delineated by 21st century researchers.

80 Chapter 5: Implications, Recommendations, and Conclusions The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of current undergraduate college students regarding their video game playing habits while they were in middle school and high school. The goal was to gain a better understanding of how students feel that their past video game playing affected their current college readiness.

For the purposes of this study, the perspectives were gathered from current community college students. Community college students were selected for this study because they are typically under-prepared for the rigors of higher education and often do not graduate (RTI International, 2016). Recent trends in education and the promise of increased federal funding, have put a lot of pressure on local school districts to graduate students who are expected to go on to continue their education at the college level. This pressure on many students to go to college coupled with the open-access policies initiated by the Higher Education Act of 1965 has resulted in many students being encouraged to enroll in college regardless of their academic preparation (Finkelstein & Thom, 2014). Many of these under-prepared college students end up enrolling in community colleges. Some under-prepared community college students can overcome their deficiencies and succeed in college if they enter college with skills that enable them to compensate for their academic deficits (Martin, et al., 2014) Video games are ubiquitous. Ninety-seven percent of teens between the ages of 12 and 17 reported that they play video games (Lenhart, et al., 2008). While there are studies that have explored some of the benefits of playing video games this is still an area in need of additional research (Evans, et al., 2013; Ferguson, 2007; Granic, et al., 2013). Recently researchers have begun exploring the possible role that video games play in developing 21st century skills (Romero, et al., 2013). The skills that have been delineated as essential 21st century skills by the

81 Partnership for 21st Century Learning mirror the skills that have been identified as the skills possessed by successful under-prepared college students (Soule & Warrick, 2015).

In this study the lived experiences of under-prepared college students were explored with a focus on students who were on track to graduate or graduated within the past two years. In other words, the participants of this study were successful under-prepared college students who are succeeding where most in their position fail. The students shared the skills and strengths they feel they entered college with that enabled them to be successful. Additionally, they discussed the affect that playing video games in middle school and high school had on their development of 21st century skills. Lastly, the participants shared the games and genres they played most frequently when they were younger and identified the skills that they needed, developed, and used when playing such games. Using their lived experiences and perspectives the following research questions were answered: (a) what are some of the shared lived experiences and skills that under-prepared college students attribute to their potential to be successful in college? (b) what 21st century skills do students feel were developed or refined through video game playing? (c) which video game genres were most frequently played by current college students while they were in middle school and high school and which skills do they feel were developed or refined?

Implications The first research question was an exploration of the perspectives of the community college students and what skills and strengths they attributed to their success in college. The students were asked to list the skills and strengths they felt they possessed that enabled them to succeed in college. Their responses mirrored the previously delineated skills that were deemed essential for college readiness and success. This finding confirmed the previous research regarding the success of under-prepared college students who possessed certain skills to

82 compensate for their academic deficits (Martin et al., 2014). The findings related to this research question imply that indeed under-prepared college students can be successful despite their lack of preparation. Most under-prepared college students when they enter community college are required to take remedial courses to try to mitigate some of their academic deficits. In fact, 68% of community college students have been required, at some point, to enroll in at least one remedial course (Pratt, 2017). Designed to help under-prepared college students make up for their academic deficits and afford them the opportunity to catch up to their more capable peers these remedial courses have the opposite effect and significantly reduce the students’ probability of success in college (Clotfelter, et al., 2015). Whether it is due to the fact that students enrolled in remedial courses often get a later start entering the standard classes their peers are attending or the negative self-image associated with needing such remedial courses the outcome is the same and usually ends with only half of the student enrolled in such classes actually completing the course (Pratt, 2017). Fear of failure or the perception of failure could be reason why many under-prepared college students do not succeed in college. If the fear of failure or the perception of failure is indeed a contributing factor related to why some under-prepared college students drop out and do not succeed in their pursuit of a college degree then the students involved in this study seem to have found a way to mitigate the negative associates related to failure. One of the known characteristics that each of the successful under-prepared college students involved in this study shared is their history of video game playing in middle school and high school. It is worth considering if the hours spent playing video games contributed to the students’ ability to handle and learn from failure. Video game play is rife with failures. In fact, most gamers learn how to play video games by trial and error. When gamers play video games they invariably reach a point in the game when the skills required to succeed exceed the skills that they currently

83 possess. When that happens gamers will often stick with the game play usually failing multiple times until their skill level increases and they can succeed. The findings of this study support the idea that video gamers will stick with the challenging tasks presented to them in video games until they develop the skill set necessary to complete the task. Persistence and trial and error were often cited by the participants in this study as not only skills that were necessary to do well in the video games that they played but also as skills they attributed to their success in college.

Failing forward has previously been identified as a vital 21st century skill (Redecker, 2011). The concept of failing, but learning from the failure to advance further along is a concept that is inherent in video game playing. A new finding unique to this study is that the attribute of failing forward can be developed or refined through a history of video game playing. The underprepared college students who had a history of playing difficult video games that required multiple attempts in order to be successful attested to this in their survey responses.

Remedial courses and other help-seeking behaviors may actually perpetuate the negative perception related to needing more assistance than their more capable peers. Students would be better served if instead of required remedial courses there were opportunities in place for these students to build life-long learning attributes and characteristics (Schaffer, et al., 2015). The findings of this study support and expand the research of these previous studies in that the students who participated in this study listed their strengths and skills and not a single one attributed any remedial courses to their success. The lived experiences shared by the underprepared college students made it clear that from their perspectives the life-long learning attributes they have developed over time have done more to help them succeed in college than any remedial course they may have been required to take. This study confirms previous research because the skills listed by the students who participated in this study matched the skills

84 previously delineated by researchers who have examined attributes for success among community college students (Martin, et al., 2014).

Research question two explored some of these life-long learning attributes, specifically the 21st century skills delineated by the Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21, 2015). The participants were questioned about their familiarity of the concept of 21st century skills and were asked to list some of the skills they feel they developed of refined through video game playing.

Many of the respondents claimed no knowledge of 21st century skills but every student listed a number of skills that they felt they developed through their video game playing. All of the skills listed by the students mirrored the delineated 21st century skills, minor differences in terminology notwithstanding.

Twenty-first century skills can be developed through video game playing and based on the shared lived experiences of the participants in this study it appears that these skills can be transferred to novel situations such as college readiness. The participants in this study are succeeding despite their academic deficiencies. They are on track to graduate where most students in their position drop out or are not on track to graduate after six years (RTI, 2016).

What differentiates these students from the unsuccessful, under-prepared students are the lifelong learning attributes that they share. Another experience that they all share is that they all had a history of playing video games while they were in middle school or high school. Without exception the games that they played developed or refined skills that they attribute to their college success. Whereas previous research has focused on the impact that serious games have on the development of 21st century skills this study has expanded this research to include all video games (Romero, et al., 2015).

85 When teens between the ages of 12-17 are in middle school or high school 97% of them play video games (Lenhart, 2008). Prior to this study, the lasting effects of video game playing during this period of adolescent development, on college readiness has not been explored or studied. This study was designed to contribute to the collective research into the potential of video games to develop necessary college readiness skills. Collecting the perceptions of the participants most impacted by this phenomenon gave a unique perspective into the perceived role that video games play on the development or refinement of the necessary skills for college success. By focusing on under-prepared college students one implication is that something made them capable of succeeding in spite of their academic shortcomings. Research question three specifically examined the types of games and genres most favored by the participants in this study and the skills that were needed to do well in these games. All of the students who participated in this study favored games that were difficult. This finding confirms the previous research by Hamlen (2011) who posited that video gamers will seek out challenging games. The challenges inherent in the games that were most frequently played by the students afforded them ample opportunities to develop the skills necessary to do well. The difficulty level that the video gamers sought out when they selected the games that they played very likely contributed to the development of their skills. Without realizing what they were doing the students who played video games were constructing their own understanding and knowledge through their play in a manner very similar to the learning theories espoused by constructivist theorists.

Constructivist theorist, Lev Vygotsky, posited that learning and skill acquisition do not occur in isolation but rather through social interaction with other people. Learning is most meaningful and enduring when these social interactions occur between learners and experts (Armstrong, 2015). Vygotsky contributed to constructivism with his discussion of what he

86 termed the Zone of Proximal Development. It is within this zone, the gap between what learners are capable of doing by themselves and what they can do with help from those with more expertise, that all learning takes place (Gredler, 2012). When learning tasks are too easy or frustratingly difficult no cognitive growth is possible. When task are slightly harder than students are capable of doing on their own and appropriate and temporary supports are in place optimal learning will occur.

Almost all video games epitomize Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development. When players begin a game they generally advance through increasingly difficult tasks and levels.

Games will present challenges that increase in difficulty as players’ skills grow and develop.

Games that are too easy are often rejected by avid video game players and they will often seek out games that are difficult and require thinking (Hamlen, 2011). The findings of this study are consistent with this research in that all of the games preferred by the participants were games that would be classified as difficult. Whether the under-prepared college students who participated in this study were aware of it or not they were learning and adapting to the increasing challenges of the games they preferred. Vygotsky (1978) also posited that learners are helped through their zones of proximal development with the use of temporary supports, or scaffolding, provided by those with more expertise. The phenomenon of receiving help from those with more experience is common among video game players. Twitch, an online streaming service that allows people to watch live internet broadcasts of others playing video games is becoming increasingly popular and is used by hundreds of millions of video game enthusiasts (Sjoblom & Hamari, 2017).

When video gamers watch more experienced players play or the utilize one of the other help strategies delineated by Hamlen (2014) they are receiving just enough support to improve their own game playing. When gamers are playing video games that are slightly too difficult to win

87 on their own the players are learning how to learn by developing ways to seek out the temporary assistance that will give them the support they need to advance. Success in video games requires successfully navigating through the gamer’s own zone of proximal development. If gamers can learn the help seeking behaviors that enable them to succeed in video games and if they can transfer these behaviors to non-gaming contexts it could contribute to their success later in their lives.

The skills listed by the participants in this study that they feel were developed through video games mirrored the skills previously delineated by researchers as necessary for college success (Akos & Kretchmar, 2017; Beattie, et al., 2018; Martin, et al., 2015; Schaffer, et al., 2015; Showers & Kinsman, 2017; Sparkman, et al., 2012). This study confirms the previous research into the skills that contribute to college success but expands the existing research by exploring the perspectives of the students themselves as well as the impact that they feel their past video game playing habits had on the development of these skills.

The video games themselves were intrinsically motivating and the students expressed that they dedicated a lot of time to improve their skills to do well in the games. In fact some of the skills that the students delineated as necessary to do well in the video games spoke to their grit (Akos & Kretchmar, 2017), willingness to try, fail, and learn from their mistakes (Redecker, et al., 2011; Wilson, 2006) and persistence (Neys, et al. 2014; Tichon & Mavin, 2017; Ventura, et al. 2013). Without realizing what they were doing these students, when they were in middle school and high school, were developing skills that would later in their lives prove essential when they pursued their college degrees. The findings in this study support the previous findings that persistence can be learned through video game play (Tichon & Mavin, 2017).

88 Recommendations for Practice The results of this study yielded four proposed recommendations for practice. It is clear from existing research and the new findings from this study that under-prepared college students can be successful if they apply their existing skills towards their pursuit of a college degree. The non-cognitive skills that under-prepared college students bring with them to college have more of a positive impact on their ability to succeed than the remedial courses that are often required.

Remedial courses that are designed to help students overcome their academic deficiencies usually do more harm than good. One recommendation would be to rely less on remedial courses in community colleges and instead offer more opportunities for under-prepared college students to develop necessary 21st century skills and life-long learning attributes. If indeed the remedial courses are a source of a negative self-image among under-prepared students it may better serve them if these courses were not mandated but offered voluntarily to supplement or complement the standard, required courses.

A second recommendation would be the development of more complex and engaging video games that develop or refine the skills identified as strengths that successful underprepared college students attribute to their success. Games that address and refine essential 21st century skills can go a long way toward preparing students for the rigors of college. A third recommendation would be for teachers and administrators at the middle school and high school level. Perhaps more college readiness instruction should take place that is not entirely focused on academic preparation. Educators and school officials should harness the intrinsically motivating characteristics of video games to tap into the under-prepared college students’ strengths and skills.

89 Lastly, teachers should consider more ways to gamify their classrooms as much as possible. Gamification has been defined as the application of characteristics from digital games into non-gaming contexts (Furdu, Tomozei, & Kose, 2017). Digital video games appeal to most teenaged students. Characteristics of these video games attract and engage players and school work and classroom activities cannot compete with the attractiveness of such games. Teachers can, however, incorporate some of the familiar characteristics of video games that make them so popular into class activities to engage learners. Whenever possible, teachers should try to incorporate technology into their lessons and activities. Whether it’s using technology to deliver content or affording the students opportunities to use technology to create and display their projects the students will be able to develop and refine their technology skills while engaging with the content. Video games are also rife with choices that players have to make and schools and classrooms should find ways to incorporate more student choice into the decision making process. Students should be given choices on how they would best be able to demonstrate their mastery of the content being taught. If students are drawn to video games because of the control they have over the actions they take while playing games it stands to reason that affording them more choices and how they learn, process, and demonstrate mastery of their school subjects would give them a sense of ownership and they would be more motivated to engage with the lessons. Trial and error and failing forward are skills developed through video game playing yet lacking in most educational settings. If students were given opportunities to make mistakes and learn from them without the fear of failure more students might engage with the classroom activities when they might normally avoid the risks associated with failure. Giving students second and third chances, much like video games do, might encourage responsible risk taking and afford them opportunities to learn and grow from their mistakes. Some other video game

90 characteristics that might be easily incorporated into pedagogy include ways for students to monitor their own progress, instant feedback, opportunities for teamwork and collaboration.

Video game players know when they are doing well in a game. They know when they are not doing well and learn how to adjust their strategy and game play to improve. Unfortunately, in many cases students do not know when they are doing poorly in class until after an assessment.

If teachers want to gamify their classrooms a strategy might be to offer more instant feedback to students so that they are more aware of how they are doing while there is still an opportunity to adjust and improve. If students were taught to monitor their own progress, much like they do in video games, they would also know when they need to make adjustments or seek the help necessary to improve. Some of this can be accomplished be giving the students more opportunities to work collaboratively with their peers. The video games often preferred by the students involved in this present study were games that were played cooperatively. The gamers would work together on shared tasks and goals in order to do well in the games. Researchers have already shown that when video games are played cooperatively it is more likely that the gamers will work better cooperatively on tasks outside of the gaming context (Ewoldsen, et al., 2012). Gamification does not have to include technology to deliver a game-like experience in order to be beneficial (Hitchens & Tulloch, 2018). Gamification of a classroom could be accomplished with simple tasks or extended projects where students are given opportunities to collaborate with peers. Working together in teams will afford students the ability to monitor their own progress in relation to their classmates and also allow them to apply the teamwork skills they are comfortable with from their video game playing. Some researchers have already posited some of the benefits of using gamification in the instructional process including creating a better learning environment, providing better learning experiences, and affording students the

91 benefit of instant feedback (Furdu & Tomozei, 2017). Gamification of classrooms will help develop some of the 21st century skills that are necessary for college readiness.

Recommendations for Research More research into this phenomenon is necessary. Capturing the shared lived experiences was a good first step towards exploring if this is a phenomenon worth studying. The findings of this study clearly show that there is a connection between the video game playing habits of adolescents and their development of college readiness skills. The findings of this study have yielded a number of proposed recommendations for research. Future research should look at this phenomenon over a longer period of time. A long term longitudinal study that follows a sample of students from middle school through high school into college may show patterns of the long term transfer effects of video game playing on college readiness and success.

This study was conducted using an online, anonymous survey future research should include more face-to-face, semi-structured interviews that would give the participants opportunities to elaborate on their responses and afford researches the ability to ask follow-up questions for clarification. Another recommendation would be for future research to consider using focus group interviews for that would give the participants in the study an opportunity to build on each other’s responses.

Additionally, a quantitative, statistical analysis of the hours spent playing video games in middle school and high school compared to established measures of college success such as SAT scores and GPAs may also shed light on the long term effects that video game playing has on college readiness. Another recommendation for a quantitative approach at investigating this phenomenon would be for a multiple linear regression model that investigates the hours spent playing video games in middle and high school, the level of college preparedness, and the

92 current measure of college success. Other multiple linear regressions comparing the video game playing hours and time spent in remediation courses with the GPAs of current students might also contribute new findings into the impact that past video game playing has on current college success. Lastly, an experimental or correlational study with the other variables that affect college readiness controlled may isolate the impact that a history of video game playing has on the development of college readiness skills.

Conclusions Video games are as popular as ever and this popularity is only increasing. As technology evolves and improves so do the complex natures of video games. In the past, video gaming was an activity that was done mostly in isolation. Gamers would spend their time, usually alone, playing games for hours on end. With the development of broadband Internet access and mobile computing platforms video gamers can play almost anywhere. With a connection to the Internet video game players are no longer limited to playing games with others who are present in the same location. Current video gamers can collaborate and compete with other players regardless of their physical location. Video gaming has evolved from an isolated activity to a social activity. As video games become more and more complex so do the skills required to do well in the games. Video games are intrinsically rewarding and players will go through great lengths to learn how to succeed in their favorite games. Whether it is reading hints and tips online or watching online videos of others successfully playing the game video gamers will seek out the help and assistance they need to complete a frustrating task or portion of the game that is giving them difficulty. Many video gamers will continue to play through their frustrations and keep trying until they ultimately succeed. Along the way they are developing skills that enable them to succeed in the game but they are also developing essential life-long learning skills and

93 attributes. Seeking help when needed, persevering though challenging tasks, collaborating and problem solving are just some of the skills that are not only considered 21st century skills but also skills that have been associated with college success. The development of these skills is also the unintended result of hours of video game playing when the games are difficult and complex.

This study looked closely at under-prepared college students and examined the unique characteristics inherent in the ones that are succeeding in college. The reasons for their success were examined through their perceptions and experiences. The data collected showed that the successful under-prepared college students shared a number of characteristics and attributes. All of the students involved in this study were selected because they were on track to graduate.

Their success in college was unique. These successful under-prepared college students shared many strengths and skills that also mirrored 21st century skills. Through an analysis of the participants’ responses it became clear that these shared skills and strengths that they attribute to their success were developed of refined through a history of video game playing when they were in middle school and high school.

94 References Adachi, P. C., & Willoughby, T. (2013). More than just fun and games: The longitudinal relationships between strategic video games, self-reported problem solving skills, and academic grades. The Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 42, 1041-1052.

Adachi, P.C., & Willoughby, T. (2016). The longitudinal association between competitive video game play and aggression among adolescents and young adults. Child Development, 87(6), 1877-1892.

Akos, P., & Kretchmar, J. (2017). Investigating grit at a non-cognitive predictor of college success. Review of Higher Education, 40(2), 168-186.

Albert, D., & Steinberg, L. (2011). Judgment and decision making in adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence (Wiley-Blackwell), 21(1), 211-224.

American Psychological Association (2012). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington D.C.:Author Anand, V. (2007). A study of time management: The correlation between video game usage and academic performance markers. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 10(4), 552–559.

Antzaka, A., Lallier, M., Carreiras, M., Meyer, S., Diard, J., & Valdois, S. (2017). Enhancing reading performance through action video games: The role of visual attention span.

Scientific Reports, 7, 1-10.

Apperley, H. (2006). Genre and game studies: Toward a critical approach to video game genres.

Simulation & Gaming, 37(1), 6–23.

Armstrong, C. (2015). In the zone: Vygotskian-inspired pedagogy for sustainability. Journal of Classroom Interaction, 50(2), 133-144.

Ballesteros, S., Mayas, J., Prieto, A., Ruiz-Marquez, E., Toril, P., & Reales, J.M. (2017). Effects of video game training on measures of selective attention and working memory in older adults: Results from a randomized controlled trial. Frontiers In Aging Neuroscience, 9, 354-369.

Barr, M. (2017). Video games can develop graduate skills in higher education students: A randomized trial. Computers & Education, 113, 86-97.

Barr, M. (2018). Student attitudes to games-based skills development: Learning from video games in higher education. Computers in Human Behavior, 80, 283-294.

Bath, H. (2005). Our Amazing Brains. Reclaiming Children & Youth, 14(3), 146-147.

95 Beattie, G., Laliberte, J.-W. P., & Oreopoulos, P. (2018). Thrivers and divers: Using nonacademic measures to predict college success and failure. Economics of Education Review, 62, 170-182.

Berg, B. L. (2011). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences. (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Bickerstaff, S., Barragan, M., & Rucks-Ahidiana, Z. (2017). Experiences of Earned Success: Community College Students' Shifts in College Confidence. International Journal Of Teaching And Learning In Higher Education, 29(3), 501-510.

Blacker, K.J., Curby, K.M., Klobusicky, E., & Chein, J.M. (2014). Effects of action video game training on visual working memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 40(5), 1992-2004 Blumberg, F., Altschuler, E., Almonte, D., & Mileaf, M. (2013). The impact of recreational video game play on children's and adolescents' cognition. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2013(139), 41-50. doi:10.1002/cad.20030 Blumberg, F. C., & Randall, J.D. (2013). What do children and adolescents say they do during video game play? Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 34(2), 82-88.

Boot, W.R., Kramer, A.F., Simons, D.J., Fabiani, M., & Gratton, G. (2008). The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control. Acta Psychologica, 129, 387398.

Borowiecki, K.J., & Bakhshi, H. (2017). Did you really take a hit? Understanding how video games playing affects individuals. Research in Economics, doi:10.1016/j.rie.2017.06.004 Bowers, A. J., & Berland, M. (2013). Does recreational computer use affect high school achievement? Educational Technology Research and Development, 61, 51-69.

Buelow, M. T., Okdie, B. M., & Cooper, A. B. (2015). The influence of video games on executive functions in college students. Computers in Human Behavior, 45, 228-234.

Burgess, S. R., Stermer, S. P., & Burgess, M.C. (2012). Video game playing and academic performance in college students. College Student Journal, 46(2), 376–387.

Butina, M. (2015). A narrative approach to qualitative inquiry. Clinical Laboratory Science, 28(3), 190–196.

Camara, W. (2013). Defining and measuring college and career readiness: A validation framework. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 32(4), 16–23.

96 Clotfelter, C.T., Ladd, H.F., Muschkin, C., & Vigdor, J.L. (2015). Developmental education in North Carolina community colleges. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 37(3), 354-375.

Colzato, L. S., van den Wildenberg, W. M., Zmigrod, S., & Hommel, B. (2013). Action video gaming and cognitive control: playing first person shooter games is associated with improvement in working memory but not action inhibition. Psychological Research, 77(2), 234-239.

Collins, E., & Freeman, J. (2014). Video game use and cognitive performance: Does it vary with the presence of problematic video game use? Cyberpsychology, Behavior, & Social Networking, 17(3), 153–159.

Coyne, S.M., Jensen, A.C., Smith, N.J., & Erickson, D.H. (2016). Super Mario brothers and sisters: Associations between co-playing video games and sibling conflict and affection.

Journal of Adolescence, 47, 48-59.

Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. 3rd ed. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.

Cunningham, S., Engelstatter, B., & Ward, M.R. (2016). Violent video games and violent crime.

Southern Economic Journal, 82(4), 1247-1265. de Araujo, T.B., Silveira, F.R., Souza, D.S., Strey, Y.M., Flores, C.D., & Webster, R.S. (2016).

Education: Impact of video game genre on surgical skills development: A feasibility study. Journal of Surgical Research, 201, 235-243.

DeCamp, W.W., & Ferguson, C. (2017). The impact of degree of exposure to violent video games, family background, and other factors on youth violence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, (46)2, 388-400.

Dale, G., & Green, C.S. (2017). The changing face of video games and video gamers: Future directions in the scientific study of video game play and cognitive performance. Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, 1(3), 280-294.

Dennis, A.R., Bhagwatwar, A., & Minas, R.K. (2013). Play for performance: Using computer games to improve motivation and test-taking performance. Journal of Information Systems Education, 24(3), 223-231.

Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135-168.

Durkin, K. & Barber, B. (2002). Not so doomed: Computer game play and positive adolescent development. Applied Developmental Psychology, 23, 373-392.

97

Ellis, C. (2007). No Child Left Behind: A critical analysis. Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue, 9(1/2), 221-233.

Essary, J.N. (2012). Teaching beyond the basics: Young children participate in a cognitive apprenticeship. Childhood Education, 88(5), 331-334.

Evans, M. A., Norton, A., Chang, M., Deater-Deckard, K., & Balci, O. (2013). Youth and video games: Exploring effects on learning and engagement. Zeitschrift Für Psychologie, 221(2), 98–106. doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000135 Ewoldsen, D. R., Eno, C. A., Okdie, B. M., Velez, J. A., Guadagno, R. E., & DeCoster, J. (2012). Effect of playing violent video games cooperatively or competitively on subsequent cooperative behavior. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(5), 277-280.

Ferguson, C. (2007). The good, the bad and the ugly: A meta-analytic review of positive and negative effects of violent video games. The Psychiatric Quarterly, 78(4), 309–316.

Ferguson, C. J. (2011). The influence of television and video game use on attention and school problems: A multivariate analysis with other risk factors controlled. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 45, 808-813.

Ferguson, C.J., Trigani, B., Pilato, S., Miller, S., Foley, K., & Barr, H. (2016). Violent video games don’t increase hostility in teens, but they do stress girls out. The Psychiatric Quarterly, 87(1), 49-56.

Finkelstein, M. & Thom, D. M. (2014). The underprepared college student: How non-cognitive factors influence academic preparedness. Journal of Studies in Education, 4(1), 59–76.

Flynn, R.M., & Richert, R.A. (2018). Journal of Cognition and Development, 19, 1-20.

Formica, E., Gaiffi, E., Magnani, M., Mancini, A., Scatolini, E., & Ulivieri, M. (2017). Can video games be an innovative tool to assess personality traits of the Millennial generation? An exploratory research. BPA-Applied Psychology Bulletin (Bollettino Di Psicologia Applicata) 65(280), 29-47.

Furdu, I., Tomozei, C., & Kose, U. (2017). Pros and cons gamification and gaming in the classroom. BRAIN: Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence & Neuroscience, 8(2), 5662.

Fusch, P. I. & Ness, L. R. (2015). Are we there yet? Data saturation in qualitative research. The Qualitative Report, 20(9), 1408-1416.

98 Gabbiadini, A. & Greitemeyer, T. (2017). Uncovering the association between strategy video games and self-regulation: A correlational study. Personality and Individual Differences, 104, 129-136.

Gentile, D. A., Anderson, C. A., & Bender, P. K. (n.d). Violent video game effects on salivary cortisol, arousal, and aggressive thoughts in children. Computers In Human Behavior, 70 39-43.

Glass, B.D., Maddox, W.T., & Love, B.C. (2013). Real-time strategy game training: Emergence of a cognitive flexibility trait. PLoS One, 8(8), 1-7.

Gonzalvez, M. T., Espada, J. P., & Tejeiro, R. (2017). Problem video game playing is related to emotional distress in adolescents. Adicciones, 29(3), 180-185.

Granic, I., Lobel, A., & Engels, R. E. (2013). The benefits of playing video games. American Psychologist, 69(1), 66–78. doi:10.1037/a0034857 Gredler, M. (2012). Understanding Vygotsky for the classroom: Is it too late? Educational Psychology Review, 24(1), 113-131.

Green, C.S. & Bavelier, D. (2015). Action video game training for cognitive enhancement.

Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 4(2015), 103-108.

Greitemeyer, T. (2014). Intense acts of violence during video game play make daily life aggression appear innocuous: A new mechanism why violent video games increase aggression. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 50, 52-56.

Greitemeyer, T. (2015). Everyday sadism predicts violent video game preferences. Personality And Individual Differences, 75, 19-23 Greitemeyer, T. (2018). Full length article: The spreading impact of playing video games on aggression. Computers in Human Behavior, 80, 216-219.

Greitemeyer, T., & Mügge, D. O. (2014). Video games do affect social outcomes: A metaanalytic review of the effects of violent and prosocial video game play. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(5), 578–589.

Greitemeyer, T. & Osswald, S. (2010). Effects of prosocial video games on prosocial behavior.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(2), 211-221.

Greitemeyer, T., & Sagioglou, C. (2017). The longitudinal relationship between everyday sadism and the amount of violent video game play. Personality and Individual Differences, 104, 238-242.

Gurung, B. & Rutledge, D. (2014). Digital learners and the overlapping of their personal and educational digital engagement. Computers & Education, 77, 91-100.

99

Hamlen, K. R. (2009). Relationships between computer and video game play and creativity among upper elementary school students. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 40(1), 1-21.

Hamlen, K.R. (2011). Children’s choices and strategies in video games. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 532-539 Hamlen, K. R. (2012). Stochastic frontier estimation of efficient learning in video games.

Computers & Education, 58, 534-541.

Hamlen, K.R. (2013). Trends in children’s video game play: Practical but not creative thinking.

Journal of Educational Computing Research, 49(3), 277-291.

Hamlen, K. R. (2014). Video game strategies as predictors of academic achievement. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 50(2), 271–284.

Hartanto, A., Toh, W.X., & Yang, H. (2016). Age matters: The effect of onset age of video game play on task-switching abilities. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 78, 1125-1136.

Hartanto, A., Toh, W.X., & Yang, H. (2018). Context counts: The different implications of weekday and weekend video gaming for academic performance in mathematics, reading, and science. Computers & Education, 120, 51-63.

Hasan, Y., Bègue, L., Scharkow, M., & Bushman, B. J. (2013). The more you play, the more aggressive you become: A long-term experimental study of cumulative violent video game effects on hostile expectations and aggressive behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(2), 224–227.

Hilton, M. (2008). Skills for work in the 21st century: What does the research tell us? Academy of Management Perspectives, 22(4), 63–78.

Hitchens, M., & Tulloch, R. (2018). A gamification design for the classroom. Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 15(1), 28-45.

Holfield, B., Cicha, R., & Ferraro, F. (2015). Executive function and action gaming among college students. Current Psychology, 34(2), 376-388.

Homer, B.D., Plass, J.L., Raffaele, C., Ober, T.M., & Ali, A. (2017). Improving high school students’ executive function through digital game play. Computers & Education, 117(2018), 50-58 Howell, W. G. (2015). Results of president Obama’s race to the top. Education Next, 15(4), 5866.

100 Hsieh, R., Lee, W., & Lin, J. (2016). The impact of short-term video games on performance among children with developmental delays: A randomized controlled trial. PlosOne, 11(3), pp Hulteen, R.M., Ridgers, N.D., Johnson, T.M., Mellecker, R.R., & Barnett, L.M. (2015).

Children’s movement skills when playing active video games. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 121(3), 767-790.

Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M. D. (2009). The attitudes, feelings, and experiences of online gamers: A qualitative analysis. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12(6), 747-753.

Irons, J.L., Remington, R.W., & McLean, J.P. (2011). Not so fast: Rethinking the effects of action video games on attentional capacity. Australian Journal of Psychology, 63, 224231.

Jackson, L. A., vonEye, A., Witt, E. A., Zhao, Y., & Fitzgerald, H. E. (2011). A longitudinal study of the effects of Internet use and video game playing on academic performance and the roles of gender, race, and income in these relationships. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 228-239.

Janssen, I. (2016). Original article: Estimating whether replacing time in active outdoor play and sedentary video games with active video games influences youth's mental health. Journal Of Adolescent Health, 59517-522.

Johanningmeier, E. V. (2010). A nation at risk and sputnik. American Educational History Journal, 37(1/2), 347-365.

Johnsen, H.M., Fossum, M., Vivekananda-Schmidt, P., Fruhling, A., & Siettebo, A. (2016). A serious game for teaching nursing students clinical reasoning and decision-making skills.

Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 225, 905-906.

Kohler-Riessman, C. (2012). Analysis of personal narratives. In Gubrium, J. F., Holstein, J. A., & Marvasti, A. B. (Eds.) The SAGE handbook of interview research: The complexity of the craft (pp 367–380). Thousand Oakes, CA: SAGE Publications, Ltd. Kovess-Masfety, V., Keyes, K., Hamilton, A., Hanson, G., Bitfoi, A., Golitz, D., & . Koç, C. (2016). Is time spent playing video games associated with mental health, cognitive and social skills in young children? Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 51(3), 349-357.

Kokkinakis, A.V., Cowling, P.I., Drachen, A., & Wade, A.R. (2017). Exploring the relationship between video game expertise and fluid intelligence. Plos One, 12(11), pp.

Lee, J. E., Xiang, P., & Gao, Z. (2017). Full length article: Acute effect of active video games on older children's mood change. Computers In Human Behavior, 70 97-103.

101 Lee, Y.H., & Heeter, C. (2017). The effects of cognitive capacity and gaming expertise on attention and comprehension. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 33(5), 473-485.

Leedy, R. D. & Ormond, J. E. (2010). Practical research: Planning and design. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Lenhart, A., Kahne, J., Middaugh, E., Macgill, A., Evans, C., & Vitak, J. (2008). Teens, video games, and civics: Teens’ gaming experiences are diverse and include significant social interaction and civic engagement. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved from http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2008/Teens-Video-Games-amd-Civics.aspx Markey, R.M., & Ferguson, C.J., (2017). Teaching us to fear: The violent video game moral panic and the politics of game research. American Journal of Play, 10(1), 99-115.

McKinley, R.A., McIntire, L.K., & Funke, M.A. (2011). Operator selection for unmanned aerial systems: Comparing video game players and pilots. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 82, 635-642.

MacLean, P. (1990). The triune brain in evolution. New York: Plenum Press.

Martin, K., Galentino, R., & Townsend, L. (2014). Community college student success: The role of motivation and self-empowerment. Community College Review 42(3), 221–241.

Mason, M. (2010). Sample size and saturation in PhD studies using qualitative interviews.

Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 11(3) Article 8.

Melzer, D. K. & Grant, R. M. (2016). Investigating differences in personality traits and academic needs among prepared and underprepared first-year college students. Journal of College Student Development, 57(1), 99–103.

Mitchell, S.M., Jahn, D.R., Guidry, E.T., & Cukrowicz, K.C. (2015). The relationship between video game play and the acquired capability for suicide: An examination of differences by category of video game and gender. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, & Social Networking, 18(12), 757-762.

Molina, B. (2013, January 16). Obama seeks research into violent video games. USA Today Retrieved from: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2013/01/16/obamagunviolence-video-games/1839879/.

Morschheuser, B., Riar, M., Hamari, J., Maedche, A. (2017). How games induce cooperation: A study on the relationship between game features and we-intentions in an augmented reality game. Computers in Human Behavior, 77, 169-183.

Moustakas, C, (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oakes, CA: Sage Publications.

102 Nakamuro, M., Inui, T., Senoh, W., & Hiromatsu, T. (2015). Are television and video games really harmful for kids? Contemporary Economic Policy, 33(1), 29-43.

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common core standards for English language arts and literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. Washington, D.C.: Authors Neys, J.L., Jansz, J., & Tan, E.S. (2014). Exploring persistence in gaming: The role of selfdetermination and social identity. Computers in Human Behavior, 37, 196-209.

Nigg, C. R., Mateo, D. J., & An, J. (2017). PokĂŠmon GO May Increase Physical Activity and Decrease Sedentary Behaviors. American Journal Of Public Health, 107(1), 37-38.

NPD Group. (2014, February 11). Research Shows $15.39 Billion Spent On Video Game Content In The US In 2013, A 1 Percent Increase Over 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2014, from https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/research-shows-15.39billion-dollars-spent-on-video-game-content-in-the-us-in-2013-a-1-percent-increaseover-2012 Oei, A. C., & Patterson, M. D. (2014). Playing a puzzle video game with changing requirements improves executive function. Computers in Human Behavior, 37, 216-228.

Ornstein, A., & Hunkins, F. (2009). Curriculum: foundation, principles, and issues. (5th ed.).

Boston: Pearson Oswald, C.A., Prorock, C., & Murphy, S.M. (2014). The perceived meaning of the video game experience: An exploratory study. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 3(2), 110-126.

P21. (2015). P21 framework definitions. Washington DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/docs/P21_Framework_Definitions_New_Logo_2 015.pdf Page, Z. E., Barrington, S., Edwards, J., & Barnett, L. M. (2017). Do active video games benefit the motor skill development of non-typically developing children and adolescents: A systematic review. Journal Of Science & Medicine In Sport, 20(12), 1087-1100.

Parong, J., Mayer, R.E., Fiorella, L., MacNamara, A., Homer, B.D., & Plass, J.L (2017).

Learning executive function skills by playing focuses video games. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 51, 141-157.

Pederson, P. (2007). What is measured is treasured: The impact of the No Child Left Behind Act on nonassessed subjects. Clearing House, 80(6), 287-291.

Ping, W., Xing-Ting, Z., Zhigang, Q., Silin, H., & Hui-Jie, L. (2017). Neural basis of enhanced executive function in older video game players: An fMRI study. Frontiers In Aging Neuroscience, Vol 9 (2017).

103

Piotrowski, C. (2015). Video games related to young adults: Mapping research interests. College Student Journal, 49(1), 134–136.

Planchon, J., Vacher, A., Comblet, J., Rabatel, F., Darses, F., Mignon, A., & Pasquier, P. (2018).

Serious game training improves performance in combat life-saving interventions. Injury, 4, 986-992.

Pratt, T. (2017). The open access dilemma: How can community colleges better serve underprepared students? Education Next, 17(4), 34-41.

Pritchard, A. (2009). Ways of learning:Learning theories and learning styles in the classroom.

2d ed. New York: Routledge.

Redecker, C., Leis, M., Leendertse, M., Punie, Y., Gijsbers, G., & Kirschner, P. (2011). The future of learning: Preparing for change. JRC-IPTS. Retrieved from http://dspace.ou.nl/bitstream/1820/4196/1/The%20Future%20of%20Learning%20%20Preparing%20for%20Change.pdf Robinson, R. (2017). Implications for middle schools from adolescent brain research. American Secondary Education, 45(3), 29-37.

Romdenh-Romluc, K. (2011). Routledge philosophy guidebook to Merleau-Ponty and phenomenology of perception. New York, NY: Routledge.

Romero, M., Usart, M., & Ott, M. (2015). Can serious games contribute to developing and sustaining 21st century skills? Games & Culture, 10(2), 148–177.

Rosser, J.C., Lynch, P.J., Cuddihy, L., Gentile, D.A., Klonsky, J., & Merrell, R. (2007). The impact of video games on training surgeons in the 21st century. Archives of Surgery, 142, 181-186.

Rowland, J.L., Malone, L.A., Fidopiastis, C.M., Padalabalanarayanan, S., Thirumalai, M., & Rimmer, J.H. (2016). Perspectives on active video gaming as a new frontier in accessible physical activity for youth with physical disabilities. Physical Therapy, 96(4), 521-532.

Roy, A., & Ferguson, C.J. (2016). Full length article: Competitively versus cooperatively? An analysis of the effect of game play on levels of stress. Computers in Human Behavior, 56, 14-20.

RTI International. (2016). The completion arch. Retrieved from http://www.completionarch.org/arch/indicator/4TC-26-COM-US Salam, M., & Stack, L. (2018, February 23). Trump blames video games for mass shootings.

Researcher disagree. The New York Times, Retrieved from http:www.nytimes.com

104 Schaffer, S.C., Eshbach, B.E., & Santiago-Blay, J.A. (2015). A dual approach to fostering underprepared student success: Focusing on doing and becoming. A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 10, 79-91.

Shute, V.J., Ventura, M., & Ke, F. (2015). The power of play: The effects of Portal 2 and Lumosity on cognitive and noncognitive skills. Computers & Education, 80, 58-67.

Showers, A.H., & Kinsman, J.W. (2017). Factors that contribute to college success for students with learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 40(2), 81-90.

Simons, M., Chinapaw, M.J., van de Boven Kamp, M., de Boer, M.R., Seidell, J.C., Brug, J. & deVet, E. (2014). Active video games as a tool to prevent excessive weight gain in adolescents: Rationale design and methods of a randomized controlled trial. BMC Public Health, 14, 275-293.

Sjoblom, M., & Hamari, J. (2017). Full length article: Why do people watch others play video games? An empirical study on the motivations of Twitch users. Computers in Human Behavior, 75, 985-996.

Silverman, R., Crandell, J.D., & Carlis, L. (2013). Read alouds and beyond: The effects of read aloud extension activities on vocabulary in Head Start classrooms. Early Education and Development, 24(2), 98-122 Soule, H. & Warrick, T. (2015). Defining 21st century readiness for all students: What we know and how to get there. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and The Arts, 9(2), 178–186. doi:10.1037/aca0000017 Sparkman, L., Maulding, W., & Roberts, J. (2012). Non-cognitive predictors of student success in college. College Student Journal, 46(3), 642-652.

Spinella, M. (2005). Self-rated executive function: Development of the executive function index. International Journal of Neuroscience, 115, 649–667 Squire, K. (2006). From context to context: Videogames as designed experience. Educational Researcher, 35, 19-29.

Straudi, S., Severini, G., Sabbagh Charabati, A., Pavarelli, C., Gamberini, G., Scotti, A., & Basaglia, N. (2017). The effects of video game therapy on balance and attention in chronic ambulatory traumatic brain injury: An exploratory study. BMC Neurology, 17(1), 86-94.

Stroud, M.J., & Whitbourne, S.K., (2015). Casual video games as training tools for attentional processes in everyday life. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, & Social Networking, 18(11), 654-660.

105 Susacta, H., Jimenez, F., Nussbaum, M., Gajardo, I., Andreu, J., & Villalta, M. (2010) From MMORPG to a classroom multiplayer presential role playing game. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 13, 257-269.

Swing, E.L., Gentile, D.A., Anderson, C.A., & Walsh, D.A. (2010). Television and video game exposure and the development of attention problems. Pediatrics, 126 (2), 214-221.

Tear, M.J, & Nelson, M. (2014). Video games and prosocial behavior: A study of the effects of non-violent, violent, and ultra-violent video gameplay. Computers in Human Behavior, 41, 8-13.

Tichon, J.G. & Mavin, T. (2017). Experiencing resilience via video games: A content analysis of the PlayStation blog. Social Science Computer Review, 3(5), 666-675.

Tortolero, S.R., Perskin, M.F., Baumler, E.R., Cuccaro, P.M., Elliott, M.N., Davies, S.L., Lewis, T.H., Banspach, S.W., Kanouse, D.E., Shuster,M.D., (2014). Daily violent video game playing and depression in pre-adolescent youth. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, & Social Networking, 17(9), 609-615.

Townsend, B.K., & Twombly, S.B. (2007). Community college faculty: Overlooked and undervalued. San Francisco, CA: ASHE Higher Education Report, Jossey-Bass.

Tucker, S. Y. (2014). Transforming pedagogies: Integrating 21st century skills and web 2.0 technology. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 15(1), 166–173.

U.S Department of Education. (2010). College and career-ready students. Washington, DC: author. Retrieved May 30, 2014, from http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/blueprint/college-career-ready.pdf U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. (1979). The Belmont Report: Ethical principles and guidelines for the protection of human subjects of research (45 CFR 46) Vandewater, E. A., Shim, M. S., & Caplovitz, A. G. (2004). Linking obesity and activity level with children's television and video game use. Journal of Adolescence, 27(1), 71–85. vanRavenzwaay, D., Boekel, W., Forstmana, B.U., Ratcliff, R., & Wagenmakers, E. (2014).

Action video games do not improve the speed of information processing in simple perceptual tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology:General, 143(5), 1794-1805.

Ventura, M., Shute, V., & Kim, Y. J. (2012). Video gameplay, personality, and academic performance. Computers and Education, 58, 1260–1268.

Ventura, M., Shute, V., & Zhao, W. (2013). The relationship between video game use and a performance-based measure of persistence. Computers & Education, 60, 52-58.

106

Vitiello, V. E., & Greenfield, D. B. (2017). Executive functions and approaches to learning in predicting school readiness. Journal Of Applied Developmental Psychology, 53, 1-9.

Voogt, J. & Roblin, N. (2012). A comparative analysis of international frameworks for 21st century competences: Implications for national curriculum policies. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 44(3), 299–321.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. (14 ed.). London, England: Harvard University Press.

Wagner-Greene, V. R., Wotring, A. J., Castor, T., Kruger, J., Dake, J. A., & Mortemore, S. (2017). Pokémon GO: Healthy or Harmful? American Journal of Public Health, 107(1), 35-36.

Ward, M.R. (2017). Cutting class to play video games. Information Economics and Policy, 1-9.

Weaver, J., Kim, P., Metzer, R. L., & Szendrey, J. M. (2013). The impact of video games on student GPA, study habits, and time management skills: What’s the big deal? Issues in Information Systems, 14(1), 122-128.

Weis, R. & Cerankosky, B. C. (2010). Effects of video game ownership on young boys’ academic and behavioral functioning: A randomized, controlled study. Psychological Science (Sage Publishing Inc), 21(4), 463-470.

Wetzels, S., Kester, L., van Merrienboer, J. (2011). Adapting prior knowledge activation: Mobilisation, perspective taking, and learners’ prior knowledge. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(1), 16-21.

Williams, D., Yee, N., & Caplan, S.E., (2008). Who plays, how much, and why? Debunking the stereotypical gamer profile. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(4), 9931018.

Wilson, J. I. (2006). Twenty-first century learning for teachers: helping educators bring new skills into the classroom. New Directions For Youth Development, (110), 149.

Witt, E. A., Massman, A. J., & Jackson, L.A. (2011). Trends in youth’s video game playing, overall computer use, and communication technology use: The impact of self-esteem and the Big Five personality factors. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 763-769.

Yu, T.W. (2009). Learning in a virtual world: The pedagogical potentials of massively multiplayer online role-playing games. International Education Studies, 2(1), 32-38.

Zelazo, P.D. & Carlson, S.M. (2012). Hot and cool executive functions in childhood and adolescence: Development and plasticity. Child Development Perspectives, 6(4), 354360.

107 Zinn, W. (2008). Making fun of school, or why does learning have to be such a drag?: Six key elements for motivating learning. International Journal of Learning, 15(8), 153-160.

108 Appendix A: Interview Questions 1. Many college students who enroll in community college do not graduate. You were selected for this study because you are on track to graduate. What do you feel are some of your strengths that enable you to succeed where most students in your position fail?

2. What skills did you enter college with that you feel most contributed to your success in college?

3. Think back to the video games you played while you were in middle school and high school. What were some of your favorite games? Describe the games, the skills you needed to do well in the games, and how often you played them.

4. Are you familiar with the concept of 21st century Skills? Which, if any, of these skills do you feel were developed or refined through video game playing?