The main research question for the study is “how video and computer games affect campus lives of college students”. The study seeks to evaluate how involvement in video games and computer games has hindered students from achieving their academic goals and beneficial social interaction. The study intends to use students from Oxford University and present them with a questionnaire with relevant questions. The process will facilitate the generation of information to answer the research question and offer evidence to the hypothesis. Students will be explained about the importance of the study to ensure that they provide relevant and correct information. In addition, the questionnaire will be easy to understand and provide answers to key issues. Examiners will then work on the provided data to compile a comprehensive report to be applied during decision-making processes.
UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute has conducted research on the effect of video games to students’ social development and learning. The research revealed that students who engage in video games tend to develop a habit that influences them to play these games regularly. Most of these students use video games anytime that they are free and do not have extra time to interact with other people. A different study conducted by the French Survey in the year 2009 revealed that some student admitted that they spend more than 20 hours every week on video games. However, at least 35 percent of the students spends more than one hour on the games every week.
There are evident gender disparities on the involvement in the video games and computer games among college students. Male students are more affected than female students in all the schools around the world. UCLA Higher Education Research Institute explained that less than one in every fifty female students spends more than 10 hours in video games while more than one in every ten males spends at least 20 hours on these games every week. Unfortunately, the habit increases as students’ advances in education resulting to rising adverse effects. The disparity rose because men are more likely to enjoy violence than women students.
Many students rarely engage in video games in the first year and spend most of the time doing what brought them to the college. Unfortunately, they develop the habit as they get used to the college life and eventually lose the academic focus and objectives. Many admitted that they did not engage in any video game in the first year and developed the undesirable habit as they advanced with education. Unfortunately, the trends of video and computer games among student seem to increase as technology advances. Students can now have the games on their cell phones and thus play them at their convenient location and time. Reduced cost of internet has made it easier and affordable for the students to download their favorite videos. Increased involvement in video games tends to occupy time spent on exercises and other physical activities. The problems results to the development of other undesirable issues such as obesity, violence, smoking, alcoholism. They tend to imitate what they saw on the videos and eventually ruin their life.
Anderson and Karen concluded that video and computer games are a major threat to the achievement of desirable behaviors and achievement of academic expectations. The exposure increases chances of exposure to dangerous behaviors, feelings, and thoughts. The increasing exposure to interactive media contents encouraged the study of the effect of how video and computer games affect campus lives of college students.
A correlation design will be applied to examine the effect of computer games and videos on 20 students from Oxford University. It is meant to evaluate the relationship between the exposure time and the outcome variables including academic performance, aggressive behaviors and social interactions. Questionnaire method of data collection was applied except on social interactions and academic achievement. Gender participation was recorded to understand the relationship between males and females in relation to involvement in video and computer games. Data was also acquired from two individual difference variables to determine potential interactive effect. Questionnaire method will be applied because is a fast and reliable method of collecting data. Examiner and students get a chance to discuss the essence of the study. The examiner applies the opportunity to motivate the participants and encourage them to offer additional information to support the process.
A video game questionnaire was developed to facilitate the establishment of two composite indexes. The two were focused on time spent and exposure to the games. Participants were required to state about six of their favorite video games. They were provided with a scale marked 1 to 7 to evaluate how often they play the game and the period spent on that activity. The questionnaire had a provision for explaining the video content and the nature of the applied graphics. On the scale, no 1 was marked as “not involved”, no 2 as “rarely”, no 3 as “little” and no 4 as “no violent content”. No 5 was marked as “little graphics”, no 6 as “no violent graphics”, and no 7 as “extremely violent graphics and content”.
The violence exposure score was computed through adding the violent graphics and video content ratings and multiplying the results by the frequency. An average of the video games exposure was calculated to offer an overall index. In addition, participants were requested to categorize their favorite video games. They related their favorite games to sports, education, fighting, skill, weapon, fantasy. They were provided with as list of favorite video games in the market and requested to identify those they have played. More than 90 percent of students who had been in the college for more than one year have played at least one of the common video games. However, it was only 10 percent of the fresh student who had played at least one of the games.
The results will help understand the effect of video and computer to students. It will be worth to note that advancement in technology has influenced has resulted to increasing usage of video games by the college students. The increased application has affected the concentration of young people to academic activities. Students are losing most of their leisure time and other moment meant for studies and socialization to the video games. Many students in the modern are spending so much of their time playing online games and videos. Some students have confirmed that they engage in these games from morning to evening when they are expected to sleep leaving little or no time to beneficial activities such as learning. Video games have been as one of the major causes of school dropouts particularly in the developed countries. They have influenced young people to lose focus in their lives and fail to understand the essence of the hard word.
Unfortunately, most of the videos are lengthy, addictive and entertaining. Most of the video games are designed to influence the player repeat it several times ending up spending extended period on them. For instance, “call of duty” series is an attractive and long period that requires an extended period to complete. The game consists of high-resolution graphic that simulate a real wartime scenario. The game affects the perception of the young towards other people and tends to become violent to other people in the society. It encourages them to learn violent skills as they engage in real life terminologies and experience application of dangerous weapons and war equipment.
Although there have some arguments that videos offer as excellent to pass the time, they are blamed for playing a role in the development of aggressive behaviors. They contribute to the deteriorating pro-social behaviors in the society. Students who spend most of their time playing computer games are more likely to engage in undesirable behaviors in the society. Most of these games are marked with violence themes such as stabbings, shootings, shout outs, fights, and explosions. They create a negative perception to young who tends that the world in only full of harsh environments. The affected young people find difficulties relating with other people in the society and fail to concentrate on areas that can add value to their lives. Increased application of internet has transformed the landscape of the electronic media. The results will provide evidence that video and computer games encourage increased violence and aggression. Meta-analytic techniques will present various risk factors associated with involvement with video games.
The study assumed that all the computer and video games have a similar effect to the students and exposure time was the only variable. It was also assumed that all the participants provided correct information regarding their feelings and understanding of the games. The examiner assumed that participants were motivated to provide information and they did not have intent to affect the results. There was an assumption that students from the Oxford University offered an excellent representation of all the developed countries. The culture adopted by these students on computer and video games offered a representation of student in other learning institution. The research was expected to attain qualitative results and examiners will be required to work on the presented data to analyze the results. The results will be analyzed depending on the marks given on the scale.
Experiences of the virtual world can offer better opportunities for the students to learn and become better people in the society. Unlike video and computer games, real world experiences encourage interactions that support appreciation of realities. It promotes understanding and students gain interest in beneficial activities that offers a promising future. The study will compare video games to addictions such those resulting from gambling and alcoholism. These factors create many negative effects to the students’ learning process. Most of the researchers has indicated no evidence that interactive media supports the development of learning experience.
Spending much time on video and computer games creates social isolation, promotes aggressiveness and hinders students learning the process. The portrayal of women can promote the development of undesirable effect on gender feelings and perception. They can affect the woman’s self-worth and identity, and affect the relationship between students. These are increased aggressive thoughts and behaviors, high physiological arousal, and reducing pro-social behaviors. The study expressed an evident correlation between extended exposure to video games and undesirable aggressive and violent behaviors. In addition, the study links extensive usage of video games with poor academic performance and ability to make friends. It is evident that video games are changing the student’s perception toward education and are hindering their involvement in learning activities. It is beneficial for the student to understand the negative effects contributed by video and computer games. They must pay attention to the learning process and avoid issues that affect their life dreams.