Matthew, Your audio and emphasis was spot on for this. I almost thought that I was in a game there for a minute. Your research has shed light on the shear magnitude of how many Americans play video games. Two thirds of the population is a significant amount in my eyes. Time management is a great finding that resonates with me, as a father, husband, worker, leader, and student time management is critical in my success. Oh and did i mention I too like video games, specifically Call of Duty (WARZONE), and I can play for hours at a time. Great presentation.
Thanks Scott! Games are just such a huge piece of our society that I think it would honestly be a little more uncommon to find someone that doesn't pay game at all anymore than to find someone that does. I understand the time management issue as well, it's never easy to put the controller down on a winning streak, and sometimes harder on a losing streak! Thanks again :)
Hi Matthew, Your presentation on college gamers' self-identity development was captivating. The backdrop you chose, reminiscent of the gaming world, added an immersive touch to the topic. It was fascinating to delve into the experiences of college students who identify as gamers, revealing their unique challenges and advantages. Your research fills a significant gap, showing how gaming has become a crucial aspect of identity for many college students. Overall, your presentation not only shed light on an important aspect of college life but also sparked meaningful discussions about the role of gaming in identity formation. Khris Knight
Thanks so much Khris! It's very nice to know that my peers have enjoyed the presentation and validate the mindset that I had on the importance of research in this self-identity.
From Jessica Devin - Hi Matt. I really liked the unusual and engaging way that you began. I believe that playing video games my whole life has increased my problem-solving abilities. Now the kids have playdates that are entirely online and video chat. A little different than when I was growing up. Your findings about discrimination is so interesting. The negative paradigm about gaming is so deeply ingrained in society that a gamer would have to truly know who they are and be confident in their own identity.
Thanks Jessica! I would love to do future research on those negative instances in more of a quant or mixed-methods style to compare time spent against viewpoints on hate speech in online video games. Hopefully something like that could show the need for moderation both in and out of games.
Hey Matthew! Just like everyone has already stated I love your presentation design! This is probably the best one I have seen so far. I love how your script throughout the whole presentation was in a form of having a conversation and not just spitting out information. Overall, you did a really good job.
Thanks so much! It really was fun to work on, and get to flex the creative muscles a bit while still focusing on getting the data out there. It's a fine line between driving viewers toward wanting to read your research and overloading with flashy visuals for the sake of flashy visuals. I'm glad it's been well recieved.
Matthew, I absolutely loved your presentation. The deliverance of your research study was superb! As a former gamer and recreational gamer these days I would have never thought that there would be an advocate for how games do assist with the cognitive skills of students. I do believe the problem solving skill involved in gaming is a relevant skill. The fact that it has become a way to identify and become one's identity is interesting to me. I do see bullying having impact on an individuals productivity and sleep whether the bullying is during the online gaming itsel or the stigmitism expressed by how others view them e.g. lazy or worthless. Great job tying in a very interesting topic to the scholastic world as I do believe it belongs!
Thanks Xavier! Who knows, maybe the next step is to look at gamifying the workplace...introducing that to training and job development doesn't sound like such a bad idea right? I think it would be really interesting to see just how close a marraige that gaming and education could become throughout school and careers alike.
Dr. C posting... Thank you for adding this research on college gamers to the existing research on self-identity. You're filling a gap in the research. I especially enjoyed hearing how you used your field notes, written during the research process, to complement, interpret, and verify the data collected during participant interviews. Well done! Question: How can those of us in higher education, especially student support administrators and staff, better support college gamers as they develop as gamers and college students?
Thanks Dr. C! As much as it may sound like patting ourselves on the back, TXST does great with our Division of Student Success (Campus Rec) having an official esports club, as well as funding and support from the IT division for esports arena. From what I've seen, the next step is to include gamification more into the academic side to promote digital literacy. There is also room for training in counseling areas on campuses for those stuggling with gaming addiction or personal issues brought on by incidents in gaming.
Love the graphics here! It looks so fun. This reminds me of my nephew, he loves to play video games. He can play them all day long and sometimes too much, my opinion. You picked an interesting topic and I think your presentation turned out very well and I love how the graphics tie in with your topic. Well done.
Thanks! It's very easy to fall into a pattern of over gaming, so I hope that research like this can help determine ways to stay engaged, but also protect students from the pitfalls that can occur with 'too much of a good thing'.
Hi Matt! Louis Medellin here. First off, let me say your 8-bit style presentation was AWESOME! I think this alone enhanced your presentation and kept me hooked the entire time. I used to consider myself a game but as you mentioned in your presentation, I felt like some of your participants who stated they felt as thought they were wasting time and falling into a particular stereotype. Some of the best friends I have had usually identified as gamers or technology gurus who I have often leaned on over the years. Thank you for bringing awareness to this demographic! Great presentation!
Thanks so much for the kind words! It's unfortunante that something like gaming can be positive in the fact of strengthening digital literacy, have an almost 'baked-in' access to social groups and exploration through on-line play, be thrillng and interesting to participate in, yet still have a generally negative stereotype around it. What I find concerning is that due to that stigma, rahter than support avenues being there for struggling students, far too often the 'fix' is to simply cut back or stop gaming altogether.
Great work, Matthew! I am currently researching gamification within online higher education course design in order to potentially incorporate some into the classes I teach. I found your presentation interesting, thought-provoking, and enjoyable. I heard that TXST is looking into e-sports opportunities for students, and the NCAA is also looking into how to incorporate collegiate e-sports into their inventory of sports. These are exciting times for gamers!
Indeed! I know that esports and game inclusion into social avenues at the university are important to a few divisions across campus and it's very nice to see schools embrace what this can be for students. Honestly, I think the more that organizations like the NCAA take gaming seriously, it can be a huge boon to the campus as well as the student body. Thanks for the reply!
Best slide design ever!! I would play this game, haha. I learned a lot from your presentation; I had not heard of Internet Gaming Disorder before. Now that gaming is a part of the curriculum at some universities, and it is a profession, do you feel the attitudes towards gaming will change?
I think that the chnage has started to shift a bit already honestly. Some of it could be that the older generations now remember gaming and it's just become more accepted than fringe, but the next 5-10 years will say a lot about gamer integration into society. Thanks, and I'm super glad you enjoyed the presentation!
Love love love the presentation design! How fitting. But more importantly, your research shed light on a population that is almost never discussed. There are more gamers out there than we realize and it is important to know as much as we can about all of our student demographics and identities. Thank you for sharing a part of you through your research.
Appriciate it Stephin! It was challenging going through such a long process and learning track for the first time, but having a topic that I am passionate about gave a sense of purpose and desire to learn, grow, and provide the best information that I could. Thanks again!
Hello Matthew, your intro was really great and your research is really interesting! I believe that passions like gaming really does build a community and as long as you find some people who like what you like then it really helps you feel like you belong! I didn't think about the stigma the title of "gamer" has and student's concealing this aspect of themselves. I think your future research of a practicum would be very interesting in regard to collectively creating policy like a board. Great job!
Thanks so much! I've really learned a lot in the process of this research, and the findings of 'hiding your identity' surprised me at first as well. I was glad to have done a semi-structured interview that allowed me to dig deeper on those questions to find a bit of reasoning behind it.
Hey Matthew! Great introduction, however I felt a little distracted with so much going on. The graphics and animation are cool, just a little too much stimulation going on.
