Impact of Playing Games Towards Students Gpa

CHAPTER 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Computer games have reached the lives of millions of people worldwide.  Today, these games have become a popular source of entertainment especially to students or the younger generation.  Therefore, this research is intended to study the impact of computer gaming towards Cosmopoint students KK1 academic achievement.  This research goes through four activities: (1) Preliminary study on category of computer games, (2) Develop and disseminate research instruments, (3) Analyze collected data using statistical methods, and (4) Conclusion and documentation. Questionnaires were distributed to Cosmopoint KK1 students where they were evaluated in order to seek information on their habitual patterns of playing computer games and understand how computer games might impact their academic performance.  The result shows that more than half of the respondents play computer games.  The majority of these students prefer to play Strategy and First Person Shooter type of games and spent time playing on average of 2-7 days a week for the duration of more two hours each time.  One of the important findings is that 77.1% of the respondents said that their academic performance have not improved by playing computer.  However majority of the respondents think that playing less computer games will not help them to improve in their academic performance; nor would playing more computer games.

CHAPTER 2

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this paper is to find out a comparative area of research into games and education: whether or not there is an impact in which computer and video games are played and grade point average (GPA).

        Computer games first came into existence in the 1960s with the introduction of a shoot-up game called Spacewar!.  Since then, computer games have become a regular part of life for many people due to its increasing popularity.  The computer game has changed from being primarily played at an arcade to be primarily played in the home. According to Carr et al. (2006), the computer game is one of the most exciting and rapidly evolving media of our time. Evidence can be seen from the Internet where online games are one of the fastest growing areas and continue to grow with full force.  Fuelled by the ever increasing popularity and economic significance of the games industry, any negative findings such as those relating to gaming addiction, epilepsy, and violent contents have rapidly been picked up by the media, often leading to condemnations of such games by the public (Ip Jacobs Watkins, 2008, P. 356).  On the other hand, there has recently been a growing amount of research into the possible benefits of game playing, such as that of promoting ICT skills, and of its being an added motivational component for training and education (Ip Jacobs Watkins, 2008, P. 356).

        The newest-generation gaming consoles are as powerful as personal computers and can accomplish many of the same things.  And today's games are increasingly realistic and technologically advanced. Social networking has even made its way into the video game industry with online gaming.

2.1        Objectives

The aim of this research is to study the impact of computer games on Cosmopoint students KK1. It is intended to:

1. Study the effects of playing computer games on the Grade Point Average (GPA) Cosmopoint KK1 students, and
2. Analyze data collected from the questionnaire using statistical method to devise conclusions

2.2        Problem Statement

The primary purpose of this research is to explore the impact of computer games with Cosmopoint KK1 students’ grade point average (GPA).  Additionally, it aims to discover the relationship between video games, time management skills, and study habits.  This research will focus on measuring the impact of video game usage and college students’ performance in the classroom and the time management skills.

CHAPTER 3

LITERATURE REVIEW

Computer Games

Today, computer games have become a popular source of entertainment especially to the younger generation.  Computer games are even now having their own worldwide professional gaming league.  This has proved that nowadays the society worldwide has accepted computer games seriously.  The popularity of computer games has also inspired numerous researches being conducted to study its elements and the various effects of playing computer games

3.1        Definition of Computer Games

Computer games are defined as 'interactive entertainment software played on various platforms such as personal computers, game consoles and handhelddevices' (Teh, Ismail, & Toh, 2007).  As defined by (Dempsey, Lucassen, Haynes, & Casey, 1997), "A game is a set of activities involving one or more players which has goals, constraints and consequences".  A game is rule-guided and artificial in some respect.  A game also involves some aspects of a contest or a trial of skill or ability, even if the contest is with oneself'.  There are four common factors that lie in games which are representation, interaction, conflict and safety.  When a computer is used to present the game and to act as an opponent or as a referee, then it is a computer game (Crawford, 1984).  Computer games have some advantages that make them more popular than traditional games.  First, they attract people by creating the illusion of being immersed in an imaginative virtual world with computer graphics and sound (Amory, Naicker, Vincent, & Adam, 1999).  Second, the goals of computer games are typically more interactive than that of traditional games, which brings players a stronger desire to win the game.  Third, computer games usually designed with an optimal level of information complexity, can easily provoke players' curiosity. Consequently, computer games intrinsically motivate players by bringing them more fantasy, challenge, and curiosity, which are the three main elements contributing the fun in games (Malone, 1981).

3.2        History

The history of computer games started in the early sixties.  The early programmers and game designers came up with ideas which have been taken over by the industry and have nowadays become cultural stereotypes.  Comparing early games with today's games shows the technological progress achieved during the last nearly five decades. By today's standards, the graphics of the earlier computer games are rather primitive.  The most general thing to say about the evolution of the computer game is probably it has become gradually genre based.  Almost all of the early computer games introduced new elements.  Later games tend to be examples of specific genres, borrowing traits from earlier games.