An investigation into the effects of playing Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) on the behaviour and the academic performance of RI Year 1 students

Done by: Muhd Marthius (21) Glenn Tan (29) Vasu Namdeo (30) Vikram Kasi Kannappan (31) Vikram Ravichandran (32) Teacher Mentors: Mr. Edmund Chow Dr. Raphael Funwa

Content: 1) Introduction and Background - Overview of presentation - Problem statement-objectives - Brief project description (what and why) 2) Main body of Presentation - Procedure - Methodology - Results and Discussion - Final Analysis-conclusion of project/research - Application 3) Conclusion of Presentation - Critique and self reflection - Reference and Acknowledgement

Introduction and Background

Overview of presentation: Title: An investigation into the effects of playing Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) on the behavior and academic performance of RI year 1 students. Our research was conducted to: Find out if and how RPG games addiction affects the behavior and academic performance of RI Year 1 students. Identify the general perceptions of RPG game players towards the games that they play. Help them understand the effect it has on themselves. Inform them how they can refrain from being addicted. Give them a new perspective about RPG games.

Background: This report presents: Information about RPG game addiction and how it affects the behavior and academic performance of RI Year 1 students. Pros and Cons of playing RPG games Methods to overcome RPG game addiction addiction Our data has been collected through: Surveys Interview Research (From books and the internet)

Problem statement-objectives: To find out the effects of playing RPG games on the behavior and academic performance of RI year 1 students. To find solutions to reduce the negative effects of RPG game addiction. Hypothesis: RPG game addiction can cause RI year 1 students to have behavior issues, be more aggressive, pay less attention during lessons and score lower grades. Explanation of what prompted our research: An increasing number of people are getting addicted to RPG games and neglecting their studies.

Brief Project Description: What: Our project is about: How the playing and addiction of RPG games affects the behavior and academic performance of RI year 1 students. How RPG game addiction can be prevented. The benefits and Disadvantages of RPG games. Why: A lot of people play RPG games and many are not aware of the negative consequences and end up getting addicted. We want to prevent this from happening to RI year 1 students by informing them of the harmful consequences.

Main Body RPG games

Procedure First, we each did our own Preliminary Idea (PI). We took paragraphs from all our PIs to form the Group Project Proposal (GPP). We created and conducted a survey of for 20 students from a wide range of classes. We tabulated our results and produced our survey report. We interviewed Mr. Paul Lim, head of the Leadership and Character Development board. We transcribed the interview and produced the Interview Report. We are still working on our final Report.

Methodology PI and GPP We made mind maps to give us a clearer understanding of the project. We listed what we would have to do and possible problems we would encounter in this report. We got some information through the internet, books, blogs and reports. Survey We came up with a questionnaire of 10 questions. We surveyed 20 year 1 students from a variety of classes. We distributed the survey equally to students from sports, normal and gifted classes to get accurate and reliable results. Interview We came up with a questionnaire consisting often questions. We had a 10 minute interview with Mr. Paul Lim, Head of Leadership and Character Development. We reflected on the interview.

Results and Discussion Table of the time spent on RPG games by each type of student. (%) Type of student Number of hours spent on playing RPG games per week. (%) 1h and below (%) 1h-5h 5h-9h 10h and above Total GEP students 3 53 22 100 Sports students 38 62 Normal students 36 4 The table reveals that Gifted Education Program students play RPG games for the longest amount of time while sport students who came in through DSA play RPG games for the least amount of time.

Results and Discussion From this graph, we can conclude that there are an equal number of RI year 1 students who play Violent and Non-violent RPG games.

Results and Discussion This graph shows us that RI year 1 students play RPG games more during their free time like on weekends and Holidays.

Results and Discussion Based on this Histogram, we can see that most RI year 1 students were introduced to RPG games through their friends.

Results and Discussion From this graph, we can infer that 75% of RI year 1 students skip sleep to play RPG games.

Results and Discussion We can infer that most students rarely sacrifice their time with friends and family to play RPG games. However, 20% of the students give up their family time to play RPG games.

Final Analysis-conclusion of research 1 Final Analysis-conclusion of research There are some benefits in playing RPG games but there are more disadvantages. It all depends on how addicted a student is to a game. Benefits RPG games help students relieve stress. After playing they claim that they can work better with a clearer mind. RPG games are also a good way to pass time. Disadvantages However, RPG games tend to be very addictive.

Final Analysis-conclusion of research Disadvantages Based on our research, we have learnt that there have not been many cases of addiction to RPG games for the year ones of 2011. Some students, but very few, suffer from bad conduct and poor results. Some have trouble finishing their homework. Many of the students lack sleep but seldom fall asleep during lessons. A handful of students are always found daydreaming about their RPG games instead of paying attention during lesson. Most students are able to prioritize between studies, family and RPG games but some are not able to.

Application We hope that this research will help the year ones of Raffles Institution 2011 understand the advantages and disadvantages of RPG games. This research applies to most of the year ones. From this research, they will understand the importance of regulating and prioritizing the amount of hours they spend on RPG games. It will also help teachers and students understand playing trends of the year 1s in RI. As a whole, we hope that this research will reduce the number of students who are addicted to RPG games.

Conclusion

Problems encountered and solved All of us could not meet at the same time to discuss our project. Adding on, we also had different views on different parts of our project. This lead to problems arising. We solved these problems by using Wikispaces and discussing our project during recess time or after school. Listening to one another and cooperating also helped a lot in solving our problems.

Limitations and Constraints We did not have ample time to discuss our project and so all of us were not really clear on what we were supposed to do. We took too long to come up with our survey and interview questions, so these segments were really disorganized at first, but then, they improved as time passed by.

Suggestions for Better Approach to Problem We could have arranged more meetings after school hours to discuss our project, and to clear any doubts we had in our duties. We could have come up with our own ideas at home and posted it on Wikispaces or brought it up during the meetings so that we could be ready for our assignments. Time management skills could also have played a vital role here as if we all could have finished our individual parts on time, we would have no problem meeting deadlines.

Suggestions for Better Approach to Problem We could extend our project to other games, which are not role-playing, so that our search basis could widen and more people could be surveyed or interviewed accordingly. We could try to find out the academic performance of Year 2, 3 or 4 also, or maybe even Primary 6, where the students addiction might originate.

Suggestions for Future Extensions to Project We could have arranged more meetings after school hours to discuss our project, and to clear any doubts we had in our duties. We could have come up with our own ideas at home and posted it on Wikispaces or brought it up during the meetings so that we could be ready for our assignments. Time management skills could also have played a vital role here as if we all could have finished our individual parts on time, we would have no problem meeting deadlines.

Acknowledgements We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Edmund Chow and Dr. Raphael Funwa for their continuous and invaluable guidance throughout the entire course of the project. We also would like to show our deepest appreciation to Mr. Paul Lim for setting aside his valued time for us to interview him. We would like to thank all the RI Year 1 students who patiently participated in our survey. We would also love to thank our parents for their motivation and understanding. We would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every other one who made this project a success.

Fire off, people!

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