Games have become highly ubiquitous in the world in which we live. Adolescents spend a lot of time playing video games, handheld games, and computer games. Most of these games are non-educational in nature. Adolescents make up a huge part of the gaming population. More specifically, children between the ages of eight and eighteen are the largest age group of this adolescent population. Gaming among this age group incorporates a broad range of gaming categories. Games played include sport- simulated games, adventures, puzzles, racing, fighting, and shooting games. These fighting and shooting games can be of a violent nature. However, all games do not contain violence but the violent games are primarily responsible for the negative stereotype that non-gaming adults have for games. Video games can be educational. This paper explains how video game play relates to development.

The most popular games that children want are typically war, crime, and racing games. Being that these types of games are the most popular it is evident that parents are buying these games for their children. This may be because games make parenting a child easier by simply allowing them to play games in their room all day. However, video games are not always bad. There are a vast amount of educational games for children that are both fun and entertaining. There are also plenty of games that allow for adolescents to get up off the couch and become physically active. Many games on the market today are geared for different educational disciplines. For example: science, math, reading, and history games. These games can vary in range of the adolescent’s age, potential health disabilities, or respective cognitive skills in relation to the adolescent’s grade level. These games do not have to remain relative to what is being taught in classrooms but they can also educate on the use of prominent life skills and social skills.

Educational games and games that allow for physical activity are fun and can rival other popular games in comparison to entertainment value and mental stimulation. These types of games have many positive effects while aiding in cognitive and physical development in adolescents. There are many problems that adolescents are facing developmentally that can be aided through the use of gamification.

What is Gamification

Gamification is a term originally used to explain the process of using software that simulates a video game in the digital media industry. As the process of gamification grew, it has taken on a more in depth meaning. Gamification includes the way the software is being used that is not conventional for standard gaming, has a design very similar to video games, has certain elements of a video game but not as lengthy or have an advanced storyline, has the same playful aspect of video games, and has similar playing platforms such as being a computer game or being played on a console. Gamification can be used in multiple forms such as games ranging from level of seriousness, alternate reality games, and games that are solely for entertainment purposes (Deterding, Dixon, Khaled, & Nacke, 2011). The term gamification can be used in two ways. The first way is by adopting the act of playing a game into everyday life. For example, using a point system every time someone completes a task and whoever has the most points win (Deterding et al., 2011).

Another definition of gamification is the act of using video games to make non-games more enjoyable. The engagement levels and entertainment values of video gaming can motivate users to accomplish tasks that are normally viewed as boring. Using video games in an educational setting is a good way to incorporate learning games into the educational process (Deterding et al., 2011).

With increasing studies showing heightened levels of attention deficit disorder and obesity in adolescents, gamification can be used to aid in these processes during adolescent development. Gamification can aid in cognitive development by keeping the adolescent engaged in educational games. Gamification can also play a role in physical development by allowing the adolescent to engage in physical activity that can help in many aspects of physical development (Deterding et al., 2011).

For gamification to be used in the educational process it must undergo several steps. Gamification must first fit into the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) theory that derived from the educational field. UDL acts as a guide for game developers and designers to help them create content and easy usability to allow for use by learners across all age groups and cognitive levels. The content of the game must be easily understood as to what is being taught. Then the content must be strategically designed to have different ways for the user to explore and master the content being presented. The last step is to have a way for all learners to be able to internalize the material being taught effectively. The purpose of UDL is to allow for meaningful gamification. The purpose of gamification is to allow users different ways to learn the material being presented. If there were only one way to learn then it would be too similar to current teaching methods. This one-way approach could also prevent users of various learning styles to learn from the game. The game must also be able to capture the engagement interest of all users (Nicholson, 2012).

To allow for gamification to be truly effective with the educational process the game should not have scoring the most points as its main goal but focus on the elements of the act of playing the game itself. The rewards of game play should come outside of the game, possibly from teachers in the classroom (Nicholson, 2012).

Gamification can be a fun alternative to keeping children engaged and healthy while allowing them to play an educational game or a game that promotes positive physical activity. Gamification in this manner will be able to aid in adolescent development.

Adolescent Development

Development is the process that the human body undergoes from birth to adulthood. These changes include both cognitive and physical development.

Cognitive Development

Cognitive development occurs in the brain. To fully understand cognitive development, the structural and chemical changes in the brain must be understood as well. Changes in the brain are structural and chemical in nature. Structural change primarily occurs during adolescence. The structures that develop first during development are the motor and sensory system regions (Casey, Tottenham, Liston, & Durston, 2005). These regions function in bodily movement and the ability to experience sight, taste, smell, touch, and hearing. Once these structures mature, the cortices associated with language and attention develop in the temporal and parietal areas. The areas in the brain associated with cognition that develop last are the prefrontal and lateral temporal cortices (Casey et al. 2005).

These structural changes are important in cognitive development because they function in the ability to process information. During these stages of development and the maturation period that follows, using gamification in the educational aspect can sharpen the functionality of these brain structures. Through MRI studies, performed by Casey et al. (2005), activities that utilize the cognitive functions in the brain will enhance the regions over time. If these functions are not utilized they become less activated and not at a prime functioning capacity. Gamification can allow for brain activity in most cognitive regions (Casey et al. 2005).

The chemical changes that occur in adolescence are hormonal and cortical and can affect behavior. There is an influx of these chemicals in the brain during development. There is a definite increase in the adrenarche hormones which are adrenal hormones. Gonadal hormones are also increased and are also called gonadarche (Kirsh, 2002). These hormones are easily measured. It can be inferred that other hormones behave the same way. Adrenarche and gonadarche can be released naturally or they can be triggered by outside stimulants such as games. During the maturation stage, these hormones help shape the structural components of the brain (Kirsh, 2002). Games that can trigger the production of various hormones such as serotonin, the happiness hormone, can lead to happier adolescents with positive structural growth in the brain. Triggered hormones and hormones that are already present play a role in cognitive engagement levels and the attitude of the adolescent.

Cognitive development is complex and may be difficult to measure unless you have the right tools. An easy way to theoretically measure cognitive development is to evaluate the mental levels of the adolescent. There is a possibility that there are different stages of cognitive development with the potential to continually progress. Mental levels are compared to various concepts and skills that adolescents may undergo during development such as educational factors (Flavell, 1981). The methodology in measuring cognitive development is a difficult task and is highly theoretical. One of the stages in cognitive development that can be measured includes the information processing stage (Flavell, 1981). By assessing skills that involve information processing, a measurable assessment can be used to determine the different levels of cognitive abilities that an adolescent may have. Educational games can be used for information processing and an assessment in determining the level of cognitive ability as well as stimulating the cortical areas of the brain.

Developmental processes involved in cognitive control in adolescents can also be measured based on incentive related responses that can be triggered by gamification. Cognitive control of adolescents and adults can be measured by observing eye movement patterns while performing a task with the incentive of receiving a reward at the end. The results from research by Hardin, Schroth, Pine and Ernst (2007) showed that incentives increased cognitive control in healthy adolescents. Incentive based tasks raise cognitive control in adolescents. An incentive based task could include video game play that will allow for these raised levels and aid in cognitive development (Hardin et al., 2007).

Physical Development

Physical development during adolescence is the development of the human body. There are many factors that go into the explanation of physical development. For the purposes of this research, it is important to know about the negative issues that can occur during physical development that can be reversed through gamification. An unhealthy lifestyle during development can lead to many health issues. Unhealthy occurrences during physical development can go into adulthood. Adolescent health problems will have long-term effects that can extend into the child’s adulthood and continue to cause problems if left untreated. A large health issue that occurs during physical development during adolescence is childhood obesity. Obesity occurs from fat distribution in the developmental period. However, physical health issues are not limited to obesity. Other factors may include cardiomyopathy, pancreaitis, obstructive apnea, respiratory disorders, and orthopedic disorders (Must, 1996). Gamification can help adolescent obesity and other developed health issues by playing games that allow the adolescent to be physically active and potentially reach and maintain a healthy weight.

Why Games Should Be Used

Utilizing gamification to enhance cognitive and physical development can be very beneficial. Gaming can be very beneficial to aid in the biological processes that occur in developmental maturation. Gamification can be beneficial in engaging adolescents, have positive psychological effects, and impact social behavior. Video game play also has a negative connotation however leisure video game play does not have a negative impact on academic performance. All forms of games can be very engaging. Through this level of engagement of gamification, adolescents will be able to grasp onto concepts better than listening to a lecture. Gamification can be very beneficial learning environments like the classroom. The classroom environment can use gamification as a supplement to learning (Carvin, 2008).

Gamification can also increase psychological feelings of happiness. During adolescent development, influx of hormones can cause children to feel stressed and become involved in aggressive behavior. Gaming will allow an adolescent a therapeutic experience due to the immersive and dissociate qualities that games possess (Griffiths, 2010). Gamification can lead to happier children. By integrating gamification into an educational setting, games will allow children to participate in games while having feelings of happiness while they learn. Adolescents will also be able to experiment with parts of their developing personality while engaging in simulated environments (Griffiths, 2010). Gamification can be used to teach many different topics while using many different academic disciplines. This method could also be applied with experimenting in the classroom without the fear of being penalized with the possibility of giving a wrong answer. This can lead to higher self-esteem in students (Griffiths, 2010).

Adolescent social behaviors may possibly be attributed to video game play. This may be because young children may imitate behavior that they see in these games. The behaviors may be helpful or hurtful to other children in social situations. Games can be used to teach young children positive behaviors that will be beneficial for mature development (Saleem, Anderson, & Gentile, 2012).

Video game play has a negative connotation as being a means to avoid doing homework. It has been long believed that video game play can lead to poor academic performance. Scientists have researched and debunked this myth. Skoric, Ching Teo, & Neo (2009) studied whether or not constant gaming can have a negative impact on academic performance based on the severity of addictive tendencies. They hypothesize that these addictive tendencies will have a negative impact with classroom performance based on scholastic achievement. They then further studied the relationship between engagement and scholastic achievement. The study focused on several hundred elementary school students. Their gaming habits were measured based on how many hours they played video games on school says and weekends. The children were then tested on addiction and engagement levels through a series of questions. Finally, their overall school grades were taken into consideration (Skoric et al., 2009). Based on the results, this study shows that time spent gaming had no correlation with degrading their academic performance. The study points out that video games require users to have a proficient understanding of language and that it may enhance a better grasp on the language. The results of this study show that gaming can actually improve the understanding of language and problem solving skills.

Gamification in Cognitive Development

Using gamification to aid in cognitive development will allow an increase in the activity of the regions of the brain to allow for adequate development. There are many games on the market that will be able to increase these activity regions. Brain games have become hugely popular, however many people do not take them seriously. There are doubts on whether or not games developed for increasing cognitive function actually work. In a study performed by Doraiswamy and Agronin (2009) there was a fifty eight percent increase in test subject’s auditory information processing speed. This study also included viewing educational videos by a control group. The test group showed cognitive increases in other cognitive processes. Both groups, test and control, had an increase in memory and confidence while the test group had a more noticeable increase. Another study on elderly people gave the results of a long-term test that showed that after five years the group showed a better performance on daily activities. Increased cognitive abilities in the long-term which will be a great asset to adolescent gamers. If elderly people saw an increase in their cognitive skills then using cognitive based games in children will, in theory, have a long term increase as well (Doraiswamy, 2009). Game play can lead to behavioral changes. In theory, positive game play can lead to positive results (Franklin & Hunt, 2012).

There are many games that can be used to aid in cognitive development and the cognitive skills that the games stimulate. Some of these games include games that improve both logic and memory but they also help with other cognitive challenges. These challenges can range from an assortment of academic disciplines such as mathematics and science. These games include “Big Brain Academy” and “Brain Age”. There is also games that aid in learning basic skills such as colors, numbers, and letters and can be seen in the game “Konami Kid Playground” (McCombs, Raudenbush, Bova, Sappington, 2011). These games are made for users of all skill and educational levels. This makes these types of games universal for everyone. All the skills in these types of cognitive based games will help maintain cognitive activity and enhance it.

Gamification in Physical development

Exercise is important in adolescent physical development. Exercise can improve muscle function, physiological reactions, and promotes good health. Lack of physical activity can lead to many risk factors such as diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure. The American Heart Association has set guidelines, on www.heart.org, regarding the amount of physical activity that children should participate in everyday. The guidelines recommend an hour of moderate physical activity a day for growing children. Increased physical activity can lead to a decreased risk of various risk factors and diseases like cardiovascular disease. Physical activity prevents this by reducing blood pressure, controlling a healthy weight, improve cholesterol levels, and reducing diabetic risk. Exercise also improves osteoporosis, certain cancers, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease (Parker, 2007). The American Heart Association also recommends that physical activity should be fun for adolescents so that it will remain fun for them to participate for an hour a day.

A growing problem with adolescents today is their routine use for seated video game play. Seated video game play is when users play video games and remain seated for hours. Adolescents find these video games to be engaging and want to play them constantly (Goldfield, Kenny, Hadjiyannakis, Phillips, Alberga, Saunders, Tremblay, Malcolm, Prud’homme, Gougeon, & Sigal, 2011). In a study by Goldfield et al. it was found that there is a correlation between the amount of time obese and overweight adolescents spend watching television, playing video games, or playing on the computer in relation to their weight. They also measured the adolescent’s blood pressure and lipid content. The results of this study showed that video games were the only behavior that resulted in high blood pressure and increased lipid production with their test subjects. This shows that game play can result in potential health problems in children. However, adolescent gamers have the ability to participate in active video game play as a way to remedy their health.

Murphy, Carson, Neal, Baylis, Donley, & Yeater (2009) tested the short-term effects of using a video game that allows a user to partake in physical activity. The game being used was Dance Dance Revolution (DDR). This research focused on endothelial dysfunction, which is found in adolescents that suffer from obesity or type II diabetes. Researchers used DDR to encourage the users to be active during a twelve-week period. The short-term effects being studied included blood pressure, flow mediated dilation, brachial artery resting diameter, fasting blood sample, and artery diameter measurements (Murphy et al., 2009). The reason for biological testing immediately after using DDR, was to show that these games do allow for users to become active and achieve positive results as a short-term goal.

Effects of long-term goals are being studied as well. The WII gaming system and all of the games that it entails can be used to give children the opportunity to be active while playing video games. Studies are being performed to find the physiological effect of video games that allow for physical activity. They are also studying the biometric measurements in both game play and exercise. Scientists are also interested in studying many of the biological physical functions (Russell & Newton, 2008). These studies take a long time to measure. This shows that serious research is being done to analyze the physiological effects of gaming using consoles such as the WII and similar consoles such as the Kinect. The length of time that it takes to measure these processes from adolescence to adulthood takes a great amount of time. This is why there is limited data explaining the long-term effects of physical gamification (Parker, 2007). Nonetheless, serious research is being done.

Not only does physical activity improve physical development but it can also improve mood. Russell and Newton (2008) argue that with increased exercise there are various psychological events that happen that can create positive effects on mood improvement. However, adolescents lack of physical activity has become problematic and this may be caused by multiple factors such as a lack of parental involvement. Studies have shown that there has been an increase in adolescent obesity. A cause of this is a result of no physical activity and the use of increased “screen time” by watching television, being on the computer, and playing video games. Russell and Newton showed that adolescents under the age of twelve that had high video game use were directly related to increased weight. The aim of their research was to use interactive video game technology to measure mood as compared to doing regular exercise. The main method of the study used adult participants to study their mood after doing a normal workout and after doing the same workout with an interactive video game. The results showed that there was not any difference in mood with the participants that did the normal workout and the ones that did the workout along with the interactive video game (Russell & Newton, 2008). Exercising with an interactive game is just as effective as normal exercise. This form of exercise will be very beneficial in adolescents that enjoy playing video games but are not currently physically active.

Gamification in the Classroom

Gamification has been very beneficial in the educational process of institutions that allow it. As a way to allow for gamification to be easily accessible to adolescents that may not have the luxury of owning a gaming console to fully utilize educational based video games, gamification in the classroom is an alternative to home use. Using educational games in the school system will give adolescents the opportunity to play games to enhance cognitive and physical development. Using gamification in the classroom can be very effective and does not have to only include video game play.

Research performed by Bustard, Black, Charles, Moore, McKinney, and Moffet (2011) measured the level of engagement student’s displayed when playing an educational game. The researchers assigned a point system to various daily class activities. The students were then measured based on their level of engagement. This was an easy method to utilize gamification and very cost effective. The researchers found that the game like atmosphere was very beneficial in the classroom and can span multiple teaching situations. This research showed that gaming increased the level of engagement with students by introducing gamification into the classroom (Bustard et al., 2011).

Video game based gamification can be very effective as well. This was shown in a study by Panoutsopoulos and Sampson (2012). Panoutsopoulos and Sampson found a possible link between commercial digital game play and mathematical achievement based on a standard curriculum. Digital games can enhance both the teaching and testing process. The commercial game used in this study was a business based simulation game. Through multiple questionnaires, background studies, and digital game play. The results of this study showed that commercial games did have a contribution to academic achievement based on the educational objectives outlined (Panoutsopoulos & Sampson, 2012). This research showed the overall effectiveness of using gamification in cognitive development based on academic achievement.

Gamification can be used as a teaching tool to educate adolescents of all needs. Blum-Dimaya, Reeve, and Reeve (2010) studied the effectiveness of using a video game to teach leisure skills to students that was diagnosed with autism. The purpose of the study was to use video games as a possible effective way to teach basic leisure and social skills to children with various disabilities. They also investigated if video games helped improve motor skills. This particular study used Guitar Hero II to study if this is an effective tool in teaching leisure skills. This study used four autistic students. The researchers showed the students photographic images that showed how to play the game. Some of the tasks that the children learned to do included putting the cartridge in the gaming console, tuning the console on, pressing certain buttons when prompted, slowing down the song, playing the song, and then exiting the game, and turning the console off (Blum-Dimaya, 2010). The results of this study showed that this training package was effective in teaching an age-appropriate leisure skill by playing the video game.

Despite the positive outcome of this study, there is still a negative connotation that surrounds video game play. Kenny and McDaniel (2011) researched the reasoning behind why more teachers and school officials are not adopting gamification into their curriculum despite multiple studies being done. These researchers hypothesized that the negative connotations that gaming has may influence teachers opinions of video games. The researchers concluded that it may have to do with the expectancy-value theory. This theory explains that the expectancy that someone has and the value of a certain goal that they may be working towards. In this case, teachers expect video games to be pointless and possibly unable to be functional for educational purposes. This means that until video games are widely accepted as a teaching method then video games will not integrate into the classroom. This can also be called collective consciousness. Kenny and McDaniel defined collective consciousness as a force that unites a group of people that influences an individuals opinions on certain situations. Collective consciousness can also affect beliefs and behavior (Kenny & McDaniel, 2011).

The attitudes that school officials have towards gaming needs to change in order for gamification to become as ubiquitous in the classroom as it is in the outside world. Games are alluring for children, the challenges that are involved in gaming, gaming culture, and the rule-based nature of gaming (Simpson, 2005). Blumberg and Altschuler (2011) interviewed adolescents on their problem solving skills when they encountered obstacles in the classroom and while playing video games. They also asked the children to compare how their strategies are similar and different. Blumberg and Altschuler also tested which cognitive skills transferred from video game play to classroom learning. The children gave great insight on how they compared learning and gaming. The children stated that using game play as an actual learning activity (Blumberg and Altschuler, 2011).

Technology has also allowed for the use of games in the classroom. Trespalacios, Chamberlin, and Gallagheret (2011) explained the technological advancement that has occurred in the 21st century and how it has affected classrooms. They performed a survey that was that showed the benefits that people believe occur if video or online games were a regular part of schoolwork. The results were very positive. This study goes on to test the preferences among children while gaming. The research methods used in this study were that children were tested for two weeks and were asked a question at the end of their day based on their preferences of their day of game play. The results showed a very strong preference for multiplayer games. This shows that adolescents prefer to play multiplayer games (Trespalacios, 2011). This will be very beneficial for the classroom since most of the games will be played as a group due to efficiency and limited classroom time. Therefore, multiplayer game play will not hinder the learning process and will act as an asset.

Due to much research and technological advancement the White House is researching the benefits of gaming. The funding of this research is from funds that were originally allotted for military training and simulations. The government invested into Microsoft to build a flash game based on learning more about the federal budget. The army also sponsors a game that showcases virtual worlds in education (Trombley, 2012). This is a great example of how the government is taking action to keep up with the advancement of technology.

Successful Applications of Gamification

Gamification has already been applied to classroom activities. Not all forms of gamification have to be reward based or video games. There are also other types of gamification that has been successful. Augmented reality games have been developed for use in the classroom in the Milwaukee area. These games range in function. Some are used for after school tutoring, one was developed to use by children to explore a park via global positioning systems. So far, users and developers claim that using the games for educational purposes has been very beneficial (Hetzner, 2010). The games introduced to students have different purposes and are to supplement their learning. The concept has gained many great reviews in the area and has inspired other teachers to introduce the concept of gaming into their classrooms (Hetzner, 2010). These games are not the foundation of the educational program but are used to supplement education and has proven to be beneficial (Hetzner, 2010).

There is also a model of gamification that makes gaming the primary teaching method. The Quest to Learn school is a new education model that has the primary focus of learning through gaming. The school is very innovative in the way they are able to keep students engaged while the student does not realize they are actually learning. Students are still required to pass standardized tests set forth by the state of New York. However, the students find that the model is effective and they enjoy it. This model shows that gamification can be used as the main component of the educational process, not just as a tool (Locke, 2010).

Negativity Surrounding Game Play

There is much negativity surrounding the notion of using all forms of gamification as a tool to aid in cognitive and physical development. One of the popular myths surrounding gaming is the idea that gaming can cause addiction. Van Rooij, Schoenmakers, Vermulst, van den Eijnden, and van de Mheen (2010) explored possible online gaming addiction. In their research, they measured compulsive internet use, weekly hours spent gaming, and psychosocial outcome measures. Their results showed that a very small percentage of gamers can be classified as addicts but not as clinical addicts. The results of this study also reported that despite addiction-like qualities, relationships did not show a decrease in psychosocial health. This means that there are findings that gaming can possibly lead to addiction like states but it is very rare. However, the addictive quality is only based only on the result that gamers that are heavily involved in gaming are still as involved a year later (van Rooji et al., 2010).

Conclusion

All forms of gamification can be used to enhance cognitive and physical development. Gamificaition can be fully utilized in the classroom setting so that more adolescents will be able to use the resources provided. Gamification in the classroom is not yet ubiquitous due to the negative myths that game play has. Once all school officials ignore these myths, then more uses of gamification will appear in classrooms throughout the country as a supplement to learning or as the primary teaching method. There are many ways to use gamification in the educational process to fully enhance adolescent growth. Many studies are being done to test the effects of gamification in adolescent development and applied to different educational settings.

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