Australian teens who game perform better at school, study says

RESEARCH conducted on thousands of Australian teens has shown those who play online games enjoy a considerable advantage over their peers.

Research of Australian teens has shown those who game do better in school.

PARENTS who are constantly nagging their teenage son or daughter to put down the PlayStation controller and pick-up a textbook, may want to change their tact after reading this.

New research out of Australian university RMIT has found that gaming helps boost academic performance in maths, science and reading among high school students.

Associate Professor Alberto Posso from RMIT’s School of Economics, Finance and Marketing investigated the matter by looking through data from the internationally recognised Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).

He analysed the academic results of more than 12,000 Australian 15-year-olds and compared it to their online habits which were also collected by PISA.

“Students who play online games almost every day score 15 points above the average in maths and 17 points above the average in science,” he said in a statement issued by the Melbourne university.

Prof Posso believes the problem solving aspect of gaming could help sharpen the cognitive abilities of students and provide them with a way to practice the skills they learned in the classroom.

“When you play online games you’re solving puzzles to move to the next level and that involves using some of the general knowledge and skills in maths, reading and science that you’ve been taught during the day.”

Despite the social stigma that can sometimes be associated with video games, research has long pointed to a number of cognitive and psychological benefits of computer games.

According to Prof Posso, his findings which were published in the International Journal of Communication, can be harnessed to improve the way teachers deliver lessons and assign homework.

“Teachers should consider incorporating popular video games into teaching — so long as they’re not violent ones,” he said.

In results that will surprise few, the study found that the same academic advantage was not enjoyed by those who spent a greater amount of time on social media.

According to Prof Posso’s analysis, teenagers who used Facebook or chat every day scored 20 points worse in maths than students who never used social media.

“Students who are regularly on social media are, of course, losing time that could be spent on study — but it may also indicate that they are struggling with maths, reading and science and are going online to socialise instead,” he said.

Originally published as Australian teens who game perform better at school, study says