Sample EDUC9607 Preparation for Coursework Project Assignment

EDUC9607 Preparation for Coursework Project Assignment Sample

This assignment takes the form of a draft literature review with a clear description at the beginning, of the research question(s) you think would generate the kind of literature you have included. The total number of words overall is 2200 words not including the reference list.

Research question(s)

Research questions are used to the focus the study. As a rule of thumb, coursework projects generally do not have more than four research questions. Usually three research questions are enough. The question(s) will generate themes which the literature review will elaborate on. Choose no more than 4 for the next section.

Literature Review

The coursework project is essentially a review of the literature in an attempt to answer specified research questions (above). After a brief introduction, the review should then outline and analyze the literature that helps you to answer the research questions. The literature review must be relevant to the research questions. In reviewing the literature, it is expected that you will discuss and analyze the literature. Some synthesis should also be evident. There should be a number of themes identified as broad headings. Sub- headings may also be useful.

The research design sets out the aims, rationale and salient features of the study. The abstract summarises the project succinctly. After the abstract, you have an opportunity to reflect personally on your progress in understanding what you might do for the CWP, now you are at the end of the topic. What do you now need to work on for a successful CWP?

Solution

1.1 Introduction

Video game consoles have a bad reputation among parents, who worry that their offspring's academic performance may suffer if they are allowed in the home. But playing video games may help you improve your focus, imagination, memory, language skills, and collaboration. The gaming business has been jaded for quite some time. It is now a well-established industry, respected for its technical prowess, inventive spirit, and advanced business acumen. For example, Newzoo, a market intelligence firm, predicts that the industry as a whole will bring in more than $150 billion worldwide in 2019, a 9.6 per cent increase from 2018.

1.2 Aim of the Study

The main aim of this research for assignment help is to evaluate the role of video games in the education sector. Games are a popular pastime for both kids and grownups because of their entertainment value and unique educational value (Sánchez-Mena et al. 2019). Games are a potent educational tool because they help kids learn new things, broaden their perspectives, and form positive routines and interests. Mobile and desktop, educational games are just a small part of a well-planned curriculum. Typically, an adult will explain the goals and regulations of such mobile and educational games to youngsters (Toh & Kirschner, 2020). When playing a national game, an older kid or one of the peers who are familiar with the game's content and has mastered the style of playing takes on the role of leader and organises, leads, and directs the playing.

1.3 The problem underlying the study

The most recent studies imply that students retain between 25 and 60 per cent more information while studying content online in comparison to the meagre 8–10 per cent retention rates of face-to-face learning (Shliakhovchuk & Spashchenko, 2021). E-learning may cut the amount of time it takes to learn anything by between 40 and 60 per cent when compared to conventional classroom settings (Shliakhovchuk & Spashchenko, 2021). This is mostly the result of the students having a greater degree of influence over the way they are educated.

Since the latter part of the twentieth century, video games and computer simulations have been used for a variety of reasons, including the training of soldiers for battle, the simulation of flying, and several other fields, such as medicine (Ghoman et al. 2020). To put it another way, video games have a lot to contribute to the field of e-learning. They supply their contents with a greater asynchronous component, offer an infinite learning curve ranging from the most basic to the most advanced levels, and provide a gaming experience that is both realistic and immersive 24 hours a day, seven days a week (Casañ-Pitarch, 2018). This gives students the opportunity to let their imaginations run wild while learning.

1.4 Research Questions

In the next school year, a combination of traditional classroom instruction and newer, more innovative forms of online and hybrid learning is anticipated. Game developers and publishers have stepped forward to help instructors across the globe reach their (partially) at-home pupils in ways that are sure to be very interesting. Thus, the following is the first question in this research to determine the extent of roles video games have in studying.

- What is the role of video games in studying?

As using video games in studying is a relatively new concept, there are multiple challenges associated with it, such as the development of addiction, neurological impacts or lack of communication. These challenges have not been well-explored till now. Thus, the following research question has been developed.

- What are the challenges of video games in studying?

After exploring the challenges, the researcher will want to find out if there are existing solutions available to combat the challenges found in the analysis of the research. It is obvious that an exhaustive list of solutions will not be found at this initial stage of using video games for learning. However, this research proposes to find out ways to improve the current challenges. Thus, the following question is developed.

1.5 The Background

The year 2020 has brought a lot of changes to classrooms and the workdays of educators. The rapid pace at which we adapted to new ways of thinking about education was accelerated by the worldwide pandemic's temporary closure of schools (Tokarieva et al. 2019). This new situation has put a premium on instructors' capacity to quickly adapt to untested educational technology and transform curriculum into online lessons. Even for techies, this will be a challenge (Hanghøj et al. 2018). The COVID-19 epidemic has separated children from their classmates, causing them to miss the personal connections and active learning that come from being in the same room with their peers.

Trouble also arose when students had to sit at computers for extended amounts of time. Because of quarantines and other regulations requiring students to stay indoors, the number of students playing video games online has risen dramatically (Martí-Parreño et al. 2018). During the period of physical isolation caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, they turned to virtual experiences that would help them keep in touch with loved ones and make new friends. Thus, it will be interesting to learn how these newly-developed habits of students can be used within the classroom for learning purposes.

1.6 Research Method and Methodology

In this research, the researcher will use positivist philosophy. This will be used because the hypothesis of the research will be set, and based on empirical experimentation, this hypothesis will be tested (Pandey & Pandey, 2021). The researcher will use a deductive research approach. This means that the researcher will use already existing theories in earlier research. No new theory will be derived, and the existing literature will be used by the researcher (Newman & Gough, 2020).
Moreover, the researcher will use a descriptive design. The researcher will describe the variable, i.e., the use of video games among children and evaluate the relationship between both dependent and independent variables (Pandey & Pandey, 2021). In this research, the researcher will use a non-probability sampling method. Under this method, the researcher will use the convenience sampling method. Under this, the researcher will conduct a survey on the teachers available to him. He will conduct a survey among 50 teachers who use video games within the teaching methods. The research will conduct quantitative research, which means a survey.

Significance of Study

This researcher will be significant in many ways. Firstly, the data that will be gained in this research can be used as a secondary source. Other researchers in future can use the data in this research as their secondary source and analyse the data gained by them with this data (Sánchez-Mena et al. 2019). With the help of this research, the parents of children playing video games will be able to understand the positive and negative impacts of playing video games on their learning. The interactive nature of video games makes for a novel sort of entertainment (Toh & Kirschner, 2020). Existing educational models that are having trouble making the shift to fully digital instruction may benefit from the use of video games as a supplemental tool rather than as a replacement for it. Video games are in no way capable of replacing the effectiveness of direct interaction with an instructor.

People are encouraged to interact with one another via participation in gaming, which is a social activity (Shliakhovchuk & Spashchenko, 2021). Many games include a social environment in which players may communicate with one another, establish groups, and collaborate with one another in teams to either compete against one another or work together to accomplish objectives and finish tasks (Ghoman et al. 2020). Therefore, the ability to interact with other people while gaming is an essential component of gameplay. Online gamer communities, in contrast to social networking sites, tend to be diversified, highly complex socio-technological institutions centred upon the organising, communication, and sharing of game-related topics and events(Casañ-Pitarch, 2018). This is in contrast to the social nature of social networking sites.

1.7 Positioning the Researcher

Within the context of a certain research endeavour, positionality refers to the stance that the researcher has decided to take in order to conduct their investigation. It has an effect on the methodology used to conduct research, as well as its effects and findings (Tokarieva et al. 2019). Additionally, it has a role in determining what a researcher chooses to explore in their subjects. When determining positionality, researchers often locate themselves in one of three different places. This requires a shift in focus from the research to the researcher themselves, as they come to terms with their role in the study, the questions they ask, the data they gather, and the conclusions they draw.

These include the phenomenon that is the focus of the inquiry, the individuals who are participating in the research, and the setting and procedure of the research. The researcher will attempt to gather the different ideas and perceptions of different respondents (Hanghøj et al. 2018). The researcher will be non-bias since he will focus on both the positive and negative impacts of video games on the learning of children. With the help of this, parents of children will be aware of how much they should allow their children to take from video games and what part should be avoided.

1.8 Limitations and Delimitations

This research will be limited to only those video games which are most common for educational purposes. These include the Oregon Trial, World Rescue, National Geographic, etc. The researcher will only focus on the data which will be gathered from the article within 5 years. The schools which focus on video games within their academic purpose will be limited in this research. This research will also be limited to the data that has been gained from school teachers regarding the role of video games in their teaching methods. This research will be delimited to any country. Students from schools all over the world will be considered, and teachers from schools in any country will be utilised for this research. The research will not be limited to any age, gender or ethnicity.

2.1 Abstract

Introduction: Playing age-appropriate games may be fun and beneficial, but only when done so in moderation. It is possible that playing some video games might aid in intellectual growth, problem-solving, and the improvement of hand-eye coordination. However, concerns have been raised concerning the long-term effects of video game play on young people. Teens and young adults may become addicted to video games. They can struggle to limit their gaming time. They could push back against their parents' efforts to restrict their video gaming time. This research has provided an introduction chapter which has been divided into various sections. With the help of the problem statement and background, the context of the research has been justified. Moreover, this chapter has identified three specific research questions with succinct justifications of the same.

Literature review: The next chapter of the research is the literature review. This chapter has been constructed based on a thematic pattern derived from the research questions. Under each section, the works of various past researchers have been consolidated. The works have been compared and critically analysed to synthesise the findings of the past research. This section has also underpinned the theoretical framework on which the research is based. The framework has identified the existing theories developed by researchers in this field. Finally, the researcher has provided a literature gap in this section which has justified the need for conducting this research by identifying the potential overlooks or gaps in the existing literature.

Methodology: This chapter in the research has outlined the methodological choices undertaken by the researcher. The researcher has performed a primarily quantitative study which has been discussed in this section. The section has also mentioned the selected sample size (100) and population (teachers and parents). Moreover, this section has outlined the philosophy, approach and design of the research. This research has been constructed following the positivist research philosophy, deductive approach and descriptive research design.

Analysis and discussion: In this section, the findings from the survey analysis have been developed through a descriptive analysis using charts, tables and figures. Then, the data is interpreted in accordance with the existing literature to establish a connection between primary and secondary findings.
Conclusion and recommendations: In this section, a conclusion has been drawn as to the extent to which the study has been able to answer the research questions. This section has also developed specific recommendations for the challenges identified.

2.2 Reflection

From the conception of the research topic till now, I believe that I have progressed in the correct direction. At first, I was only looking at how video games improve students' learning. However, now I have realised that there are specific roles to be played by parents, students as well as teachers. Initially, I was only considering teachers for my research participants. However, after realising the role of parents, I have also included them in my study. Moreover, I realised that to embark on this research. I will need a sound understanding of the currently available video games and how they help in learning.

For this purpose, I explored various free online learning games and noted down how they help in simple activities such as learning vocabulary, learning mathematical functions like addition and many more. This initial exploratory observational research has helped me develop more specific and directed survey questions, which I hope will further guide me in arriving at a substantial conclusion. In terms of personal growth, I can say that I have learnt to organise my work more in terms of academic writing practices. At first, I was struggling with concepts such as problem statements and what exactly to include. After going through the course materials, I could construct a succinct problem statement along with justified research questions. 

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