VIDEO GAMES LEVEL UP LIFE SKILLS

“Playing video games can strengthen abilities such as communication and resourcefulness”

By: Kathryn Hulick

Published: Sep 27, 2017, Science News for Students, https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/video-games-level-life-skills

Level of Difficulty: *

BEFORE YOU READ

·         Ten ways video games affect your brain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hqkinlW_Hw

QUESTIONS

1.       Mathew Barr reached an interesting and rather surprising conclusion as a result of a study he conducted: playing video games ….

2.       The above is due to the fact that ………………

3.        What feature of video games develops skills that are demanded in the job market? The fact that…..

4.       What was the purpose of the study Barr carried out? To find out…

5.       The eight games to be played during the study were purposely / randomly selected to test………

6.       At the end of the experiment, was Barr’s initial hypothesis proved or disproved? How do you know?

7.       Why does Barr recommend that schools have video games as extracurricular activities?

8.       Oliver seems to feel that the enshrining of video games is unfair / indispensible / unnecessary / unavoidable because…

SUMMARY TASK

Fill in the blanks to complete this summary of the text you have just read. Use words and phrases from the text

Mathew Barr has had firsthand experience of the benefits of gaming and is now studying video games and gamer culture at the University of Glasgow.  He recently 1……. an experiment where he asked 2…………..to play 3…………games. Before the experiment, Barr required the subjects to fill out 4….. to check and see how good their 5………..skills were, how 6………..they were and whether or not they were 7………They had 8…………to complete the task and had to play a total of 9………..There were various different games but all of them provided opportunities for 10……………..The results of the experiment supported Barr’s initial……….because there was a marked………….in all the subjects’ scores. This prompted Barr to recommend that schools make games………. There those who disagree with Barr like Oliver feel that there other alternatives; i.e. other ways of ……………….the necessary life skills

WRITING TASK

Study the following power point presentation and write about the advantages and disadvantages of video games.

Pros and cons of playing video games https://prezi.com/n95kqrnhxj3l/pros-and-cons-of-playing-video-games/ 

VIDEO GAMES LEVEL UP LIFE SKILLS; TEACHERS’ NOTES AND KEY

This straight forward text comes from a wonderful website which posts relatively simple science texts. The beauty is that vocabulary is also explained. These texts also give the opportunity to introduce students to inferential questions.

1.       can help someone get a job and advance in a career

2.       playing video games in a group can improve young adults’ communication skills and resourcefulness)

3.       video games require quick thinking

4.       whether gaming skills carried on into real life

5.       purposely / communication skills, adaptability and resourcefulness

6.       Proved/ After two months of playing video games regularly, students scores on communication skills, adaptability and resourcefulness improved

7.       Because they help break down anxieties and build confidence

8.       unnecessary / it is not only video games that develop skills

SUMMARY TASK: KEY

1.       Conducted, 2. 16 university students, 3. Eight video 4. A questionnaire, 5. Communication 6. Adaptable, 7. Resourceful, 8. Eight weeks, 9.  14 hours, 10. Conversation and cooperation, 11. Hypothesis, view, opinion, 12. Improvement, 13. Extracurricular activities, 14. Sharpening