Smarty Pants: The Trivia Game For Everyone! Alyssa Barker Department of Behavioral Sciences INTRODUCTION MATERIALS & METHODS CONCLUSIONS Many individuals believe that games have no educational background for children but after much testing and research the results were outstanding. Games serve a great purpose for many children. Not all games are educational but many serve the same purpose, they enforce socialization, eye-hand coordination, as well as critical thinking. When the idea of this stimuli was first thought of I wanted to prove that games have positive affects rather then all the negatives one may hear. Smarty Pants was created to prove that games are beneficial to the individuals that play them. Most children zone out and become unfocused when sitting in a classroom learning a topic they are unsure of. When a child is not paying attention to the topic at hand, they are making it harder on themselves to learn. The first grade class I had the privilege to work with and to test Smarty Pants on was very eager to participant. The children as well as the teacher were eager to see the outcome. The teacher was very impressed with my creation and idea and was willing to continue using my technique throughout the school year. The stimulus enforced socialization and critical thinking. Subjects Participants were recruited based on children I knew and a class I was able to visit with. Children were between the ages of 7 and 9. Both boys and girls were used to ensure there was a fair range of subjects. Participants were broken into two groups the experimental and a control group. The experimental group played the educational board game created while the control group played a non-educational board game. Both groups were randomly selected and put into each group Participants were fully voluntary and if they wished not to participant they were allowed to leave. Participants were not paid but thanked with cupcakes once the study was finished. Apparatus Participants were read the directions of the stimulus and asked to play the stimulus as they would any other game. Smarty Pants: the trivia game for everyone used the following materials: a the game board, that had a start and an end. A spinner to determine how many places to move, game pieces to keep track of each players spot on the board and the most important aspect of all, the questions used in each game. Each player had to answer a question when it was their turn. If the player got the question correct, he or she spun the spinner to move their game piece. If the player got the question wrong they did not move their game piece and had to wait until the next round. The stimuli was presented like any other game, the directions were read to each player to make sure the players understood the rules. Responses were measured based on the number of questions each player had to answer and the number of questions he or she answered correctly. The behavior of each player was documented as well, data was collected based on how focused the players were throughout the game. Academic grades were also measured to determine if the game was actually helping the participants. The participants were asked to take a quiz after a full game of Smarty Pants was played to determine their knowledge. Majority of the participants did outstanding on the quiz and believed it was because of the game. The game was able to keep the players focus and attention. Procedure The conditions created were educational vs. non-educational. Both groups were compared based on behaviors and performance on the quiz. The experimental group each time had higher test scores then the control group. Both groups were unaware of the documenting so there was no fear of the participants changing their behavior. The results supported the thesis because each week the stimulus was tested on participants and the results were documented. The stimulus encouraged socialization and critical thinking. The children could not answer the questions without first thinking about the topic. Some questions were harder then others and used more thought while others were easy to answer. The questions were based on subjects the participants were currently learning which helped them learn the material for a test. It also helped the children learn the material for their own knowledge. After the participants played the stimuli, their academic grades began to increase. The participants showed great knowledge on the material. The participants responded very well the the stimulus and were eager to participant in the study. Games are very beneficial to children of all ages and have been used in many different studies. Mark Griffiths used games to decrease nausea in chemotherapy patients and was very successful. Board games teach values, ethics, academic skills and the importance of playing by the rules. OBJECTIVES REFERENCES Dewar, Gwen. (n.d.). Board games for kids: Do they have educational benefits? Retrieved December 10, 2016, from http://www.parentingscience.com/board-games-for-kids.html Griffiths, Mark. (2003). The Therapeutic Use of Videogames in Childhood and Adolescence. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 8(4), 547-554. Five Reasons to Use Games in the Classroom. (2016). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from http://www.educationworld.com/ a_curr/reasons-to-play-games-in-the-classroom.shtml The Benefits of Board Games. (2016). Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/ article/creativity-play/benefits-board-games The outcome of the study was as predicted, the game that was created benefitted the children and helped them learn the material they needed to. The children remained very focused and attentive throughout the whole game. They encouraged the other players to try their best and helped them when a fellow opponent did not answer a question correct. The players showed great sportsmanship and seemed eager to continue playing. The children playing the non-educational game were not always focused and at times very competitive with the other players. When working with a large group I broke the children into teams of 5. Each group worked together to answer questions and the results were as followed: Group 1: Answered 10 questions and got 5 correct Group 2: Answered 10 questions and got 8 correct Group 3: Answered 10 questions and got 8 correct Group 4: Answered 9 questions and got 7 correct Group 5: Answered 9 questions and got 8 correct. The total correct answerers totaled 36 so the average was 7.2 correct answers. The number of correctly answered questions were low when working in groups because all participants had to agree on an answer. At times I heard the correct answer being mentioned but when the final answer was given it was incorrect. When working in teams each player influences the others, when someone else is sure of their answer others may begin to second guess their choices. This proved that working individually may be the key to succeeding in the classroom. With more tests and studies this can be determined. (Figure 1) Week by week comparisons. The number of questions asked vs. how many questions were answered correctly. RESULTS I would like to thank all the participants who willing volunteered to help me with this study. A special thanks to my favorite first grade class who welcomed me with open arms and always managed to put a smile on my face. For any questions or comments please feel free to email me at: Alyssa.barker@yorkmail.cuny.edu ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & CONTACT (Figure 2) an actual picture of the stimuli created.