` St.

Booret Elementary School

8604th street
Ottawa, Ontario H3Y6R2

December 15, 2023

Mr. Rox Rothford, Supervisor

2089th street
Ottawa, Ontario H5Y9H3

Dear Mr. Rutherford:

I am submitting the attached report entitled The Enhancement Video Games Have On Teaching
In Elementary Schools.

This report analyzes the perks of implementing video games into elementary schools. Discussed
in it will be two other schools that have already done this to show a direct comparison of its
beneficial use in not only the curriculum, but also into the interior design of St. Booret
Elementary School. I hope you find this report satisfactory and by the end you will be interested
in allowing this to proceed in which a $30,000 loan will be necessary for all purchases of
electronics to complete this project.

Sincerely yours,

Noam Buchler, interior layout designer

7083th street
Ottawa, Ontario H4Y6T2
The Enhancement Video Games Have On Teaching In Elementary
Schools

Interior design layout of St Booret Elementary School

Noam Buchler, 300367250

Biopharmaceutical Science, University of Ottawa
ENG1112: Technical Report Writing
Henri Feist
December 15, 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES 4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5

1.0 INTRODUCTION 6

2.0 VIDEO GAMES IN ACADEMICS 7

2.1 BENEFITS 7,8

2.2 NEGATIVE EFFECTS 8,9

3.0 SCHOOLS WITH VIDEO GAMES IN THEIR CURRICULUM

3.1 MARIO UMANA ACADEMY 9,10

3.2 QUEST TO LEARN 10

4.0 CONCLUSION 10

5.0 REFERENCE PAGE 11,12

LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1. Pretest results without Khan Academy

FIGURE 2. % improvement with Khan Academy

FIGURE 3. Posttest results with Khan Academy

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report assesses the interior design layout of St.Booret Elementary School, a project I've
been hired to design and complete by February 14th, 2023. While we're currently on track to
meet the deadline of completion, I propose adjustments to further better the overall look and
environment of the school design, extending the project's completion to March 3rd, 2023. Those
adjustments include dedicating rooms in St.Booret Elementary School for the usage of video
games such as rooms for virtual reality, rooms for laptops, and rooms for board games. The
addition of designing the interior of the school like this brings many perks to the students and
teachers themselves such as improving focus and attention span, increasing participation,
increasing motivation, increasing problem solving and critical thinking, increasing teamwork and
social skill connections, and increasing memory enhancement from the visual component of
video games. An example used in this report is Kahoot, an online game learning platform that is
very successful with over 6 million teachers and 800 million students using it that allows people
to create, share and play learning games or quizzes. Among studies “Kahoot raised 70% of
students' final grades or test scores in comparison to other teaching methods” (Wang, 2020).
Another example discussed in the report is Khan Academy, a non profit educational learning
platform whose goal is to create online tools to help educate students. It includes short video
lessons as well as practice exercises. It is a very successful platform as well and has between 48
million and 137 million registered users and over 70 million people use it annually. From a study
that conducted pre-test scores with the absence of using khan academy and post test scores with
khan academy, “The posttest scores indicated minimal-to-high rates of improvement from the
pretest, with an average of an 10.40% improvement from the pretest to the post-test'' (Kreller,
2022). These two examples discussed further in detail in the report truly show how beneficial
education video games can be and this new teaching style for teachers and addition into the
interior design layout can really benefit students in their way of learning and performance. I am
kindly seeking a loan of $30,000 from you Mr. Rutherford, in addition to the original budget to
facilitate my request if you agree with arguments. If agreed I hope we can be the start of a new
era to help engage and influence other schools into this interior design layout I have in plan for
St. Booret Elementary School.

1.0 INTRODUCTION
The use of video games today is a big part of both youths’ and elders' lives, and educational
institutions tend to neglect video games and often only talk about the negative effects. Many
individuals, especially younger generations, are amazingly good at navigating the internet, so
neglecting them can be hurtful to them to their lifestyle. Research has shown and proved that
video games provide various advantages when it comes to education such as increased
motivation, engagement, teamwork skills, focus, critical thinking, and memory enhancement.
Moreover, video games are also a great way for students to gain knowledge as it's a stress free
environment with immediate feedback for immediate learning. Furthermore, educational video
games are not only good for gaining academic skills, but rather can increase non-academic skills
as well. Some of these non academic skills include: the ability to solve problems in real life
situations, work under pressure, make social connections, and engage in teamwork. However,
although video games pose some negative setbacks which include, addiction, adult themed
games which aren't appropriate for school, and emotional instability, the positives outweigh the
negatives. With these positives being more significant, integrating video games into students'
everyday lives can become a great way for students to have a more fun and enjoyable time while
learning.

2.0 VIDEO GAMES IN ACADEMICS

While the concept of employing learning based games as an educational tool faces limited
popularity, mainly due to concerns about potential distractions from academic focus, a thorough
examination of research in this area reveals a completely different perspective. Contrary to the
prevalent negative assumptions, video games exhibit a variety of advantages in the realm of
education. They have the capacity to import substantial knowledge and contribute to the
development of valuable skills that can significantly benefit students in their academic pursuits
and future professional careers.

2.1 BENEFITS

2.2 INCREASED MOTIVATION AND PARTICIPATION

It’s well known that keeping students’ motivation in a classroom is quite a challenge ― the lack
of motivation can result in a reduction of learning. As such, most teachers acknowledged that
game-based learning represents another way of increasing motivation. Well-designed video
games are indeed efficient learning machines, as they motivate and engage the players in such a
way that they are learning without being aware of it. According to Abdulrahman Alamri, “Video
games have educational features, attract students, increase their motivation to study, and help
students to use their knowledge in practice” (Alamri, 2016). Game-based learning supports the
learning process and constitutes an attractive way of delivering information and acquiring
knowledge. Video games can also help students narrow their focus and block out distractions,
which can be particularly useful in various environments. Video games often need attention to
progress and achieve goals. Students with ADHD who play video games can also develop their
abilities to focus for a longer period of time, which can be especially beneficial for special needs
teachers.

Furthermore, as game based games require people to participate within them, this facilitates
active learning as they are trying to solve the answers in limited time which promotes better
grades. As well as game based learning being online they always provide immediate solutions
therefore allowing students to continue their learning even if a mistake is made. The great feature
of immediate feedback allows students not to get discouraged because they won't be stuck on
problem and have to figure it out how and find it somewhere else on the internet, but rather in a
school environment either the teacher will explain the question or the website used will provide
solutions and context which will be a more time managed working environment and in all give
better grades from increased motivation and participation

2.3 INCREASED PROBLEM SOLVING AND CRITICAL THINKING

Learning-based games have many educational aspects that are not immediately obvious in their
content, one of them being the ability to develop problem solving and critical thinking skills.
Problem solving is the thinking tasks used to solve a particular problem. Critical thinking is the
ability to examine information rationally and to make a logical judgment based on the analysis
we make. There are both cognitive processes that are goal directed.To solve a particular problem
and achieve the ultimate goal, different strategies can be used, including but not limited to
means/ends analysis, working backwards and trial-and error. A learning-based game’s play is a
process requiring the use of our knowledge and skills. In many cases, there is a time pressure
which develops decision making skills. Learning-based games provide the player with
challenging scenarios which have to be solved by generating new skills within the interactive
environments and applying existing rules in the problem space.

2.4 INCREASED SOCIALS SKILLS AND TEAMWORK

Learning-based games can help build teamwork and cohesion. Research has shown that those
types of collaborative games can lead to prosocial behavior, which encompasses a wide range of
social behaviors that are beneficial for oneself and others. Students obligated to play together to
achieve the ultimate goal will have to demonstrate assistance towards others. They have to learn
to work together towards a common goal, keeping all the strengths and weaknesses of each team
member in mind. Also, children that tend to play games at the beginning of the school year
exhibit more prosocial traits at the end of the school year. As such, they are more likely to build
friendships and relationships. According to Matt Parker, “Playing games with someone means
interacting in a different space. You are making an agreement with them to navigate space
together, and you’ll see a different side of them than you normally would in a professional
setting” (Parker, 2016).

2.5 MEMORY ENHANCEMENT

Functional MRI brain imaging analyses found that children who played video games for three or
more hours per day showed higher brain activity in regions of the brain associated with attention
and memory than did those who never played. Some studies have shown that playing learning-
based games could significantly improve memory, especially working memory, which is defined
like a cognitive system that can store information temporarily. As analyzed, games are very
visual, allowing for more stimulation of the brain. Because of that very nature, gamers are more
inclined to remember what they learnt rather than if they were listening in a passive manner to a
traditional lecture. Specifically, Dr. Chaarani says, “parts of the brain that are highly involved in
working memory and attention and problem solving were more active in gamers, this is not
surprising. Additionally, games require fast-paced processing of many types of information
within a very short amount of time. They require problem solving, and a lot of visual attention”
(Stevens, 2023). Therefore, the visual, repetitive, and more active component of these games
increases the photographic and working memory and allows gamers to retain more information,
especially if used in a class environment.

3.0 NEGATIVE EFFECTS AND SOLUTIONS

3.1 ADDICTION

Electronics have been known to have an addictive factor to them whether or not they are video
games or game-based learning games. Some of the negative effects can include; “sacrificing
work, education, hobbies, socializing, time with partner/family, and sleep; increased stress; an
absence of real-life relationships; lower psychosocial well-being and loneliness; poorer social
skills; decreased academic achievement; increased inattention; aggressive/oppositional behavior
and hostility; maladaptive coping; decreases in verbal memory performance; maladaptive
cognitions; and suicidal ideation”(Griffiths, 2014). However, although games can lead to
dependency as previously mentioned, students would never get to this point as teachers would
use game-based learning in an appropriate fashion in which they would not use games the whole
lecture period. Therefore, addiction can be neglected and won't be a problem since the games
will be used for a limited amount of time.

3.2 EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY

Games are known to be competitive as everyone wants to be a winner. Since games pose a
competitiveness they pose a factor of emotional instability. When playing games people can
elicit negative emotions such as anger, frustration, and sadness if they did something wrong, or
lost the game. However, although people can elicit these emotions, these aren't the only emotions
that students will be showing as when people win games, they show emotions such as happiness,
excitement, and joy. Therefore, because there is a mix of emotions that can be displayed;
happiness and sadness, this actually poses a good factor rather than negative and can be
neglected because if there's more competitiveness this allows players to want to win more so that
frustration is actually motivation.

3.3 ROLE-PLAYING AND VIOLENCE GAMES.

When people think of games many people think of games such as Call of Duty, Fortnite, and
Grand Theft Auto. Many of these games have been proven to initiate bullying, fighting, and
violence. However, the games we are posing to bring to St. Booret Elementary School does not
involve such games and involves game based learning games such as Kahoot! and Khan
academy. Therefore, this risk of violence can be neglected completely.

4.0 SCHOOLS WITH VIDEO GAMES IN THEIR CURRICULUM

FIGURE.1 FIGURE. 2 FIGURE. 3

 Pretest results without the usage of Khan Academy versus Posttest with the Usage of Khan
Academy

4.1 Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a great example of video games in education. Khan Academy is an American
non-profit organization created in 2006 by Sal Khan. Its purpose is to create online tools that
help educate students by producing short videos and practice exercises for students to serve as a
way for teachers to compliment their ways of teaching by giving more examples and allowing
students to compliment their learning. A study designed by Shane Kreller attempted to determine
how efficient Khan Academy is by placing high school students in a 45 day math course period
where they had time to work on Khan Academy assignments in school. The students did a pretest
to evaluate their math skills initially as a baseline and the students received an “average score of
66% with a range of scores from 18% to a 100%” (Kreller, 2022). As the students reached the
end of the research period, Kreller evaluated their skills by making students do a post-test to
show a direct comparison of the results from before and after. Students on the posttest had “an
average score of 76.97% with the vast majority of students having experienced some degree of
improvement from their pretest score” (Kreller, 2020). Therefore, clearly looking at the results
from this study it was conducted that the students in the study improved their average by
approximately 10% showing the benefits of video games in education. This study displays how if
video games are implemented in a correct manner into the curriculum and therefore interior
design, it can help students improve grades from subjects math conducted in the study that
majority of people trouble with and make it into an easier, fun, and better overall experience for
students to learn. Also the website directly provides solutions to each problem therefore
providing students with instant feedback instead of making them wait for a direct solution from
their teaching being an overall better way of learning by allowing them to learn from their
mistakes immediately and therefore making the material more retainable.

4.2 Kahoot!

In addition to Khan Academy, Kahoot is another educational video game that can be beneficial
to students. Kahoot! is a game based learning platform used to review students' knowledge for
assessments. It is among the most popular game-based learning platforms with more than 6
million teachers and 800 million students using it in over 200 countries. A study conducted by
Alfe Inge Wang conducted many studies of the use of Kahoot in a variety of schools and
recorded their results of their final exams versus students who did not use Kahoot!. In the
experiment, at Purdue University, a group of 96 students, the experimental group, used Kahoot!
for seven weeks straight, whereas the rest of the class did not use Kahoot! (control group). It was
found that the experimental group did significantly better on the final exam with “the
experimental group averaging a score of 79.56% while the control group averaged a score of
56.83%” (Wang, 2020). Similarly, the results of a quasi-experiment with 67 university students
in Greece learning electric circuits showed that “the experimental group averaged a score of
59.93% vs 51.72% for the control group for the final exam” (Wang, 2020). Moreover, another
case study from Portugal with 324 university students showed “that with the usage of Kahoot the
average grade of class improved by 6.4% compared to traditional teaching methods without
Kahoot!. As well, students that usually had more poor grades improved their grades by an
average of 12% with Kahoot!” (Wang, 2020). Therefore these 3 experiments demonstrate how
educational video games like Kahoot in a class can really benefit students by not just improving
their grade, but by being a competitive game that increases motivation. This is because players
attempting to be the fastest player to obtain the correct answer increases their engagement which
is beneficial as the more participation one student does, the more actively that person is learning.

5.0 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this report shows that the use of video games has many positive effects towards
education. Although there are some negative implications associated with the use of video games
that might make some academic institutions rethink otherwise, the benefits as stated, outweigh
the negative connotations. Therefore, the teachers or educational institutions that assign video
games into their curriculum will definitely see a positive impact in the students’ behavior
towards education. Therefore, I am hoping Mr. Rothford that you will agree to provide us with a
loan of $30,000 for the addition of video games in the design layout in St.Booret High School
even though it would prolong our project completion time.

As previously mentioned, if everything goes according to plan, the project will be completed by
May 2023. At this stage and current state of the project We have worked on both beginning the
construction process and employing future employees. I am hoping you will agree to provide us
with a loan of $30,000 so that we can stay on schedule with the shelter construction, and for the
sole reason that we are doing this for a good cause and want people off the streets as quickly as
possible. Things we are going to work on from this point on are fundraising, purchasing all
essential equipment needs, continuing the construction process, and as well as continuing the
hiring process. In all, I hope everything is well with you, I hope you are pleased with our
progress so far and please feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions.

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