COTS Video Games in the Classroom

Introduction

This scientific research paper was willingly provided by a freelance expert from WriteMyPaperHub – academic paper writing service and examines whether COTS video games can be introduced in the classroom to enhance learning. This research methods section outlines the research methodology or research design that will be applied to conduct the study. Conducting actual research by applying a qualitative design provides the advantage of delivering a realistic view of a real-world situation. Ioannidis et al, (2015) note that actual research provides a holistic overview of the issue under investigation (p. 5). Creswell (2008) also pointed out that choosing a topic using an appropriate research design is the first step to take toward achieving good results from a research study (p. 23). Booth, Colomb and Williams (1995) also determined that a topic of research needs to be picked provided there is an existing gap in the knowledge at hand (p. 53). 

When choosing the right topic becomes a problem, a researcher is free to seek guidance to help ascertain the relevance and appropriateness of that particular topic to the study under investigation (Booth, Colomb & Williams 1995, p.63). However, Creswell (2008) observed that finding out if the potential participants are willing and ready to participate in the study is also a critical part of the researcher to accomplish, and he or she should also ascertain that there would be sufficient resources to aid in the research, including data collection over a given period of time (p. 24).

The importance of research cannot be overemphasized. McCusker and Gunaydin (2015) observed that the conclusion drawn from any research is often an expansion of existing knowledge, and provides an opportunity for researchers and scholars to use the findings to further studies in that particular field (p.537). However, for this to be achieved the researcher needs to come up with the most relevant and appropriate research design to allow that particular researcher to develop a comprehensive method of data collection and analysis from the beginning (Creswell 2008, p.3). The choice of design is often based on a couple of factors, such as the nature of the research problem at hand, the experience of the researcher and the target audience (Creswell 2008, p.4). All these are critical in choosing the most appropriate research design.

Since a qualitative research design is often used extensively in the study of human behavior and their habits, qualitative research would be used in determining whether applying COTS video games in the classroom could benefit the children by improving their learning. As Merriam and Tisdell (2016) pointed out, such research would entail various physical orientations and approaches (p. 137). An inductive process requires the researcher to become the fundamental source of data collection to allow the final product to be a rich descriptive research that allows the target audience to look at the data and make great sense of it in the real world scenario. 

Research Design

There have been many questions regarding the effective research design. A good design is one whose components work together in harmony to promote efficient and successful functioning (Maxwell, 2012, p.2). However, a poor design would guarantee failure. Each of the research questions will bear a rather different design as shown in the research questions section. For Q1 a systematic review will be applied, with clearly stated goals with pre-determined eligibility criteria for research. For Q2 the researcher will use three 30 minutes semi-structured interviews, which will be carried out with three elementary school teachers. A transcription of the interviews will be conducted to help with analysis to determine themes relevant to this study.

Q3 will allow the researcher to apply a focus group design. Liamputtong (2011) noted that “ focus group researchers, like any other qualitative researchers, are more interested in gaining an understanding of the specific rather than the general, and in issues of meaning and not in precise numerical descriptions” (p. 87). The recruitment of elementary school teachers and administrators, as well as elementary school parents who would participate in the study would be carried out by the researcher. The objective is to determine whether it would be feasible to introduce COTS video games in the classroom to help enhance how students learn. 

Research Questions

Q1 will aim at determining ways to include the COTS video games into the classroom lessons, particularly those considered more appropriate than others while keeping an eye on any challenges that are likely to be faced in the process of incorporating them. Q2 will explore any perceptions or misconceptions about COTS games, the parties responsible for driving these misconceptions, and the role of school culture in affirming particular beliefs and perceptions. Q3 will seek to brainstorm the factors could contribute to successful implementation of COTS games.

Setting

• For Q2 the participants will have predetermined a place that is most appropriate for them to take part in the research during the interview proceedings. The research would take place in the school where the participant is affiliated and comfortable with.
• For Q3 the location of the interview will be at a school in the Midwest, where the interview room shall be reserved specifically to achieve that particular purpose.

Participants

For Q1, a systematic review of existing literature will be conducted to determine whether including COTS games in the classroom could enhance learning and learning experiences. The study is going to be restricted to the Midwest of the U.S., particularly the teachers of elementary school level, 3rd – 5th grade students. In addition, the proposed research is to be restricted to ELL population. The investigation will observe the effects of computer games and their applications in the acquisition of English as a language. The students and teachers have to know the various types of video games. For Q2, participants shall include 3 teachers who shall be members of the elementary school, and will undergo an interview session. The teachers have been chosen based on certain criteria, including having knowledge of video games and seen children play at least once in the last three months. 

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25 parent participants expressed their interest to take part in the study. However, after a careful evaluation, the researcher will select only 5 of them that meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the study. The exclusion criteria for parents of students of the elementary school will be those who have no knowledge of any video games as well as those who are not parents of students in the 3rd to 5th grade. For Q3, a focus group design will be used to collect information from parents. The inclusion criteria for focus groups should be specific to provide information specific to the experience of the participant, which can relate to the study (Liamputtong, 2011, p. 47). Demographic factors such as age will not be very significant in the selection criteria, but the study will generally include more young teachers than older ones because they often witness the use of technology gadgets such as video games by students around them. According to Spector (1999), variables should be measured to allow analyses to be conducted for effective conclusions to be reached (p. 12). Assigning attributes derived through measurement provides convenient labels for certain key or discrete categories. 

Some of the teachers and parents may meet the inclusion criteria, those to be excluded will have failed to complete at least 75 percent of the interviews. After a careful evaluation, the researcher will settle on n = 8 participants (3 teachers and 5 parents). Incomplete forms will be removed and destroy while the completed ones will proceed to data analysis. The absence of bias provides conditions through which validity and reliability can be achieved, and most vulnerable to instances of bias include action research inquiries that have low saturation points, for instance, in a case such as this where N is small (Salkind, 2010, p. 7). Participants were between ages 20 and 52. Most of the participants will be under the age of 40 years.

Data Collection

This research will include systematic review for Q1, interviews for Q2, and FGDs for Q3. It is important to collect data in a manner that will ensure accuracy, reliability and validity. When performing scientific research, it is important to obtain accurate measurements. Nothing can substitute well-designed, reliable and accurate measures (Viswanathan, 2005, p.77). The systematic review will include reviewing existing literature and similar researches on the subject to determine what has been covered regarding the same. For interviews, three elementary school teachers will be asked to respond to specific questions to help extract the right data for analysis. The interviews will obtain data from three elementary school teachers. Lastly, the focus group discussion will be moderate by the researcher. This group will include 5 teachers whose students attend the elementary school. 

Data Analysis

Once the date is collected, the researcher will perform data cleaning to ensure the data is standardized before use.  During data analysis, the data collected during interviews and FGDs and recorded using voice recorders will be transcribed to put the responses into texts. 

NVivo 11 Pro will be a very important data analysis tool for the researcher to study themes and patterns within the study’s data collected. 

Conclusion

The study will seek to determine whether the application of COTS video games in class can help enhance the learning of the English language. Many modern-day children continue to spend most of their time on interactive media like video games than they do on books. Therefore, the study will determine whether teachers need to incorporate video games into their students’ learning experiences to enhance those particular experiences. The study will include teachers and parents from different races or ethnicities to eliminate racial bias and to determine whether race plays a role in the knowledge of video games. The 30-minute semi-structured interviews will be used to allow participants to provide both structured and unstructured responses to questions that the researcher will ask. This will allow the capturing of personal opinions in the comments section. The voice recorder will be used to record responses to ensure that the researcher obtains accurate data from the participants during the interviews and FGDs.  

References

Booth, W., Colomb, G. G. & Williams, J. M. (1995). The craft of research. London: The University of Chicago Press.

Creswell, J. W. (2008). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Ioannidis, J. P. A., Fanelli, D., Dunned, D. & Goodman, S. N. (2015). Meta-research: Evaluation and improvement of research methods and practices. Plos Biology, 13(10)1-7.

Liamputtong, P. (2011). Focus group methodology: Principles and practices. Los Angeles : SAGE.

Maxwell, J. A. (2012). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc. 

Mccusker, K. & Gunaydin, S. (2015). Research using qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods and choice based on the research. Perfusion, 30(7) 537-452.

Merriam, S. B. & Tisdell, E. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Salkind, N. J. (2010). Encyclopedia of research design. London: SAGE. 

Spector, P. E. (1999). Research designs. Beverly Hills, Calif. [u.a.: Sage Publ.

Viswanathan, M. (2005). Measurement error and research design. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.