Week 5 (3/12/17)

Well, we have finally made it to Week 5 of my Senior Research Project. According to my original project plan, Week 5 also means the conclusion of testing at BASIS. During the week, I gave all of the participants a survey to fill out, which looked at how much time they play video games on a weekly basis as well as a few other questions. In that particular survey, I also conducted a Tit-for-Tat Test where participants were given 5 pieces of candy and a choice to give (or not) a certain amount of their candy to a randomly assigned partner. After completing the survey, the participants were allowed to play a few games of Sharks and Minnows while I sorted out the amount of candy designated to each participant based on the results from the Tit-for-Tat Test. However, the survey was not the only activity that the participants took part in during the week. The participants in the video game group still competed in Vainglory for the last week of in-game stat recordings. Although the school wifi was still down on Thursday (due to OECD testing), the participants were still able to play a cooperative card game called, Sentinels of the Multiverse, which they all enjoyed.

Working with fifth grade participants every day for the past 5 weeks has been very fun and has given me a lot of experience when working with people for research. I have learned to form thorough schedules for participants so that testing would be as efficient as possible. I also learned that there needs to be some flexibility in an experiment in order to account for daily changes that may or may not be expected (i.e. wet grass, wifi connection issues, etc).

Although I have finished testing the participants, that does not mean I am not finished with my SRP. I will be completing much more research from articles, books, and research papers that pertain to my topic so that I have a greater understanding of how video games interact with people. As a result, my future weekly blogs will cover what I have read and learned. So don't worry, you'll still get your weekly readings to enjoy!

Week 4 (3/3/17)

Week 4 into the experiment, and we are nearly done with the testing. The goal has been to end the testing at school on March 10th. At this point, the plan still holds true.

The beginning of this week was, for the most part, normal in terms of the testing. The participants in the video game group continued to engage in battles against online opponents in Vainglory while I recorded their statistics during their matches. There was an update to the game on Monday, which many of the participants were excited to see since it meant another new character to try out as well as a new background design for the battle arenas.

However, due to the magical occurrence of rain on Monday and Tuesday, the scheduled day for Capture the Flag (Tuesday) had to be postponed since the field was too wet. Fifth graders playing Capture the Flag on a Slip and Slide did not sound too safe especially when there is a concrete ground next to the field. With the help of the equation below, I ran some numbers and decided to move the game to Friday.

Running + Wet Slippery Grass + Concrete = A concussion waiting to happen

As a result, when Friday came along, the participants were very excited to play Capture the Flag and the matches went pretty well. Here is a picture of one of the games.

And yes, I will still hold off on releasing the results of the Capture the Flag games in order to keep the suspense. You're welcome :)

Week 3 (2/23/17)

Another week of more testing! Since President's Day was on Monday, BASIS was closed so there was not any testing on that day. However, when Tuesday rolled around, the participants played a special version of tag that I like to call, "Shield Tag". This version of tag was adapted from the tag variant, "Chicken Tag" that I found online.

The rules of Shield Tag include the basic components of normal tag. Just like a regular game of tag, there is one person (the tagger) who tries to tag someone else. Once a new person is tagged, he/she is the new tagger and the process repeats. However, the unique aspect of Shield Tag is that the non-tagger players have access to a ball (the Chicken Tag version had a rubber chicken) that would protect its holder from being tagged. This ball could be passed to other non-tagger players so that these players could work together in order to protect themselves from the tagger.

After Tuesday, the VG participants continued to play matches in Vainglory and their statistics were recorded. I have also been working on a brief survey that I will give to all of the participants during the last week of the testing.

Week 2 (2/16/17)

During the second week of testing, the Video Game Participants continued playing Vainglory and more stats have been obtained from each match. Additionally, more fifth graders have been registered as participants for both groups.

On Tuesday (2/14/17), participants in both groups competed in Three Legged Races. Although maintaining order was not too easy with excited and energetic fifth graders, two different matches were played where each match had four competing teams (2 VG group and 2 NVG group). Each team's time to complete the race was recorded for data collection purposes. Although I could release the data right now, I'll hold off until later. However, the data was not too surprising...even with all of the occasional trips and falls.

Week 1 (2/8/17)

Concerning my Senior Research Project (SRP) so far, I have registered 5th grade Late Bird students as participants. We have already begun testing on 2/7 where members of the Video Game (VG) Group are working together while playing, Vainglory. I have been recording their in-game statistics for data collection purposes.

I am planning to begin testing the Non Video Game (NVG) Group next week and will have them play one of the planned "Sport-like Games" which include:

- Capture the Flag

- Tag

- Three-Legged Races

Additionally, I have been working with Mrs. Dunn to register more Late Bird students so that there can be more participants to obtain valuable research from.