Steinkuehler (2013), who a game scholar, talks about her research on online video games. She argues that games are a great tool for learning in the classroom. More than the game itself, its the idea that games capture students’ interests, and that is what promotes learning. Teenage boys are failing out of school and this is becoming a big problem. Through experience, Steinkuehler has realized that teachers must allow for a “follow your interest” type of model. She noticed that the same students who were falling behind in school, began to excel in their studies when they were given the freedom to choose what to read. Students’ comprehension performance increased greatly because they began to care about the work they were doing; they persisted through the challenges they faced because they cared about the topic they were studying. Additionally, Degand (2015) conducted a case-study with two Black male high school students, and gathered information on their social success, their aspirations, their social experiences, and their experiences with media. Social success skills include traits such inter- and interpersonal intelligence or emotional intelligence. Degand was interested to examine the different ways that the teenager boys’ media experience played a role in their ability to acquire social success skills. He argues that pro-social media content exists to combat racism and positively influence the development of students. Degand adopts hermeneutical phenomenology to conduct his study in order to understand the perspectives of his participants. Namir (subject #1) defined success in terms of monetary worth, but he believed that social success was not dependent on financial means. He believed that people who are successful have completed their objectives. Mathieu (subject #2) defined social success as people who enjoy their lives and stay out of trouble. Both the subjects’ definitions of social success was dependent on their family experiences. Because Mathieu’s immediate social circle consisted of individuals who attended college, he was able to include specific details from his family member’s experiences; yet, Namir was not able to do so. Both Namir and Mathieu were planning to go to college once they graduated high school. Furthermore, Namir enjoyed watching comedy films, but he mainly spends his time playing video games. Mathieu’s interest in playing soccer leads him to spend more of his time learning about soccer game rules and strategies. Thus, the media content the subjects viewed was influenced by their personal aspirations and goals. However, the amount of time they spent engaging in medias that relate to their current ambitions were not the same. (For example, Namir is interested in music production-related activity, but spends more time playing video game-related activities). Degand argues that it is imperative to consistently participate in an activity that coincides with your long term goal. One reason is because it can help strengthen youths’ identity formation. Another reason is because media activity can help youth become more resilient. For instance, Mathieu can learn how to combat racism if he ever experiences it in the future because he may gain knowledge about players who confront racism.
I can relate to Steinkuehler’s talk on a personal level. Whenever I am assigned (by a teacher) to read a novel for class, I am immediately turned off by the idea; I usually just think of it as another chore or dull assignment. However, when I am given the freedom to choose what I would like to read, I become an active participant in my learning experience, and I am able to engage with the text in front of me. Last quarter, in my Abnormal Psychology course, my professor provided us the opportunity to read any book that interested us and to write a reflection. The only catch was that it had to be related to mental health. Thus, I have an extraordinary amount of choice in deciding what to read. I decided to read a book that discussed the detrimental effects of anxiety, and as a result I began to become more interested in this topic. I attended my professor’s office hours to learn about this disorder and asked her questions that extended beyond the scope of our classroom.
Questions:
1) What are the benefits of using high school boys as participants (in Degand’s study)?
2) Have you ever had to teach a group of students? Did you ever find it difficult to capture their attention/engage them in the material you were teaching? If so, how did you overcome this challenge?
3) Do you believe that media experiences/engaging in media has the potential to “strengthen identity formation in youth?” (Degand, 2015).
UWP 104D 