DIARY Australian teachers urged to embrace video games

TEACHERS across Australia are being urged to incorporate video games into their lessons after research revealed teenagers’ test scores improve if they play.

A study was conducted on 12 000 15-year-old students across the country and discovered gaming allowed the teens to perform 20 points above the average in maths, reading and science.

But those who logged into Facebook, Twitter or other social media websites on a daily basis scored 20 points lower.

“The hypothesis is video games can lead to players developing skills in problem-solving,” associate professor in economics Alberto Posso said.

Posso, who works at Melbourne’s RMIT University, said the 2012 research study asked the children how often they played video games in categories such as “once a month”, “every day”, “never”, etc.

The study found each student who revealed they played, even once a month, had higher test scores than those who did not.

But while those who gamed “excessively” had a slight increase in school performance, the gap was smaller than students who played in moderation.

Posso said the 2012 research study did not determine what types of games the teenagers were playing.

“There is a movement among teachers who keep in mind 75 percent of children are on Facebook on a regular basis,” Posso said. – Daily Mail