“Motivation of Students in Playing Online Games” 1

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Video games are the most popular form of gaming and are found on computers, laptops, and

mobile devices. Gaming is all about being entertained and it cannot possibly be utilized for a

serious pursuit of knowledge or the process of learning in a formal classroom environment.

While it may seem college students who are involved in playing a game during class time or

their study time may not be learning, there are inherent qualities in a well-planned game that can

increase motivation and engagement, along with improved cognition. The use of games to

promote adult learning is not new. Games, game-like activities, and simulations have been used

in corporate training classes and college classrooms for quite some time (Johnson, 2012). The

essence of video games involves “skills in which success depends on perseverance, intelligence,

practice, and learning not change (Gray, 2007). An online game is a video game that is either

partially or primarily played through the internet of another computer network, online game are

ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PCS, consoles and mobile devices, and span

many genres, including first-person shooters, strategy games and massively multiplier online

role-playing games (MMORPG,2017).

 2

Playing games are part of recreation in our daily life activities it can help maintaining our mental

and physical balance. Students nowadays are making fun with the internet and most of it the

online games which trigger them to sit, play and enjoy. Online games are also trending

in social media not only teenagers are playing but also children who are underage, but in this

study we will be focusing on what motivates the college students to play online games and still

they manage to attend classes and get average grades even they are busy in their studies and

making lot of fun. Today lots of online games with different features was released in the internet

accompanied by the help of social media, especially they called “App Store” which can be easily

downloaded to your computers, laptops, and mobile phones. Motivations come from different

aspects of life but in this research, what are the possible answers came from students, why they

are active on this area even there a lots of problems in our society.

OBJECTIVES

 To find out the beneficial impact of playing online games to students.

 To determine the most played online game by the students.

 To find out the percentage of students playing online games.

 3

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Fun and learning are basically part of student’s life; it captures once attention that they need also

extra time to deal with others and other time to focus on their goals in life.

Gaming is the running of specialized applications known as electronic games or video games on

game consoles like X-box and PlayStation or on personal computers (in which case the activity

is known as online gaming). The term "gaming" originated as a synonym for "gambling"

although most electronic games today do not involve gambling in the traditional sense(Rouse,

2016).

Online or video games was prominent nowadays, according to Sharp (2012), an Education

specialist through her research “Promoting Community Service and Global Awareness

throughGamification”, within her research says that games have to promote important functions

such as critical thinking and social interaction.

According also by Matt(2013),“Video Games and Motivation”. Gamification is a technique that

aims to replicate the motivational pull of video game play and apply it to eLearning experiences.

While gamification has been met with some criticism, it seems that it’s more the application that

is the problem rather than the technique itself. In order to successfully gamify an eLearning

course we need to satisfy people’s basic psychological needs. If we look at popular video games

over time such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario, Angry Birds, Guitar Hero, Wii Sports,
 4

Donkey Kong, World of Warcraft or Space Invaders, we can see how they satisfy these needs

and use similar approaches to our own eLearning design. On this matter we will know what

student motivates them.

Motivation neither can be seen nor can be touched. It is not easy to come up with a specific

definition of motivation because it can neither be observed nor directly be measured precisely, it

can only be inferred from what people provide and do (Wlodkowski, 1999).Psychologist also

says that "The term motivation refers to factors that activate, direct, and sustain goal-directed

behavior... Motives are the "whys" of behavior - the needs or wants that drive behavior and

explain what we do. We don't actually observe a motive; rather, we infer that one exists based on

the behavior we observe (Nevid, 2013).In this case there are two types of motivations the

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation. Intrinsic Motivation is the act of being motivated by internal

factors to perform certain and behavior its needs and causes are by an Autonomy, Relatedness,

and Competence while Extrinsic Motivation, whenever an individual performs an action or

behavior because the individual is affected by the eternal factors such as rewards or punishments

and also the needs and cause of it are by Money, Praise, Competition, and Threat of punishment.

Games are inherently interactive in the sense that they require players to make choices to

progress a narrative, and this choice-making process has the potential to challenge people to

think reflectively about moral, ethical, and social problems. Previous research has focused on

games from a game theory perspective (Smith, 2005, Zagal, Rick, &Hsi, 2006). Game theory
 5

simulates considering future interactions with each other by modeling iterated versions of the

Prisoner’s Dilemma (Felkins, 2001). In this model, it has been demonstrated that the most

benefiting choice is to initially cooperate with the other person with no betrayal.

Research in Australia involving more than 12,000 high school students found that, when

it came to internet usage, students who regularly played online video games scored higher in

maths, reading, and science tests than their peers who didn't (Dockrill, 2016) "Students who play

online games almost every day score 15 points above the average in maths and 17 points above

the average in science," says economist Alberto Posso from RMIT University in Melbourne.

"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.

An empirical model of player motivations in online games provides the foundation to

understanding and assessing how players differ from one another and how motivations of play

relate to age, gender, usage patterns and in-game behaviors. In the current study, a factor

analytic approach was used to create an empirical model of player motivations. The analysis

revealed 10 motivation subcomponents that grouped into 3 over aching components

(Achievement, Social, and Immersion). Relationships between motivations and demographic

variables (age, gender, and usage patterns) are also presented.Oftentimes, both the media and

researchers into media effects collapse all video gamers into a simplistic archetype. While this
 6

facilitates making sweeping generalizations of potentially deviant behaviors or consequences

(i.e., addiction and aggression), this strategy inevitably ignores the important fact that different

people choose to play games for very different reasons, and thus, the same video game may have

very different meanings or consequences for different players. (Yee,2007).

Video game aficionados get so engrossed in their game that they somehow block the

external environment and feel that their play space is as important and vivid as the “Real World”

outside. Researchers at CSU have recently revealed that afore-stated absorptive instances in right

circumstances can actually have positive results, offering tremendous mental health

benefits.Associate professor of anthropology at the Colorado state, Jeffrey Snodgrass recently

published two different studies, examining the types of video game experiences and their

subsequent effects on players (mostly students).Snodgrass examined many popular online games

for his research and concluded that the very complex nature of such games influenced the players

to feel that they are actually a part of the highly vivid and compelling alternate version of the

universe that is completely separate from the existing outside world(Chuwie,2015).

(Campbell, 2016), she says that “The study — Internet Usage and Educational Outcomes Among

15-Year-Old Australian Students — tracked exam results and the personal habits of 12,000 high

school attendees. All had taken an internationally recognized paper called Program for

International Student Assessment (PISA) which tests for proficiency in mathematics, science and

literacy. The students also filled out forms highlighting their socio-economic backgrounds as
 7

well as their personal lifestyle choices. Use of "online games," both single and multiplayer, was

one area of the questionnaire, though individual games were not named."Online games foster a

range of skills that promote higher order thinking, which could potentially lead to improvements

in math and literacy," stated Posso, though he added that "it could be argued that people who are

good at math and reading also enjoy games that allow them to employ, or even sharpen these

skills."

Technologies, especially computers are beneficial for the life of a person; it takes man sit

a long period of time without even think about the wasted time as long as they attain their needs.

As an additional tribute to the information of everyone especially in our community, in this case

we would like to achieve what are the desire that motivates students to play online or video

games, and triggers them to play every day.

 8

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The game industry has become one of the most lucrative industries in the world due to

the billion dollar sales of digital games was released. Online game play is like a culture among

majority of students who play every day. Online videos games are one of the latest methods for

students to get fun without any hesitation or an outcome for their future. They spent much

time in playing on it until lots of money loss.

Motivation consists of external and intrinsic motivation. External motivation refers o

doing an action for the purpose of gaining a reward in material form. Whereas, intrinsic

motivation mainly refers to an action performed for the sake of the act alone which is

considered rewarding in itself. Intrinsic motivation occurred when people engage in it for its

own sake, rather than in order to receive some external rewards or to avoid some external

punishments. We know that there are negative effects of too much playing video games but in

some country there some research studies that online games can be also a good thing for the

improvement of students in social and extra curricular activities (International Journal of

Information and Education Technology,2014).

In this study we will use the underlying impacts of playing online games as to the

motivations/reasons to play, what the acquired strategies and skills, much time spent,

educational attainment about their studies and learning's, also their behavioral status and kind
 9

of games played for the Independent variable. As to Dependent variable we will see what are

the beneficial effects to them while they play different kinds of online games.

RESEARCH PARADIGM

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE DEPENDENT VIARIABLE

Playing Online Games

1. Motivations or Reasons to Impact of Playing Online

play Games

2. Strategies and Skills in

playing

3. Time spent every game *Beneficial Effects to

Students
4. Condition on Studies and
Learning's

5. Behavioral Status "self and

towards others"

6. Kind of Games played

 10

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The study will aim to determine the impact of playing online games to students and its beneficial

effects.

Specifically, this study will aim to answer the following question:

1. How are the students be described in terms of:

1.1 Motivations or reasons to play

1.2 Strategies and skills of winning.

2. How does an online game affect the following factors?

2.1 As to studies and Learning’s

2.2 Their behavior

2.3 Allotted Time to play

2.4 Types of games played

2.5 Relationship /Friendship with others

3. What can benefit them in playing online games?

 11

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of the study will have a great value in helping parents, teachers and especially the

students.

To the parents, it will serve as basis to share with other parents the information about the certain

games or ideas so that it can also help in parenting and in guiding their children in good way.

To the teachers it will add to their knowledge o what are the good reasons of their students in

playing online games as to their academic or school performance. They can also evaluate the

good reasons why some of the students attached to this area.

To the students they will put to their mind the good side of playing online games when they see

student who are frequently played through computer or mobile phones and also the additional

knowledge or information why are some students get link to play online games.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATIONS

This study will be conducted to determine the impact and beneficial effects of playing online

games to students their way of playing, school performance, and behavior towards him/her and

to others, time management and the usual games they played. Specifically this study looks

forward to the average point on motivations and to the reasons behind why students decide to

play. This study measured by a survey questionnaire, the respondent of this research was

students of the Assumption College of Nabunturan (ACN) and also the other online game

players.
 12

DEFINITION OF TERMS

ONLINE GAMES -A video game which is or can be played over a computer network (now

usually the Internet); (later) especially one enabling two or more players to participate

simultaneously from different locations.

MOTIVATION - the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way. The

general desire or willingness of someone to do something.

STRATEGIES - a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim.

SKILLS- the ability to do something well or what we called expertise.

BEHAVIOR- the way in which one acts or conducts oneself, especially toward others.