2024剑桥雅思讲义Short_Answer 1.docx

ZQ国田IELTSADVANTAGEShortAnswerPaSSaRe2ThepotentialofvideogamesasapedagogicaltoolBrandonK.AshinoffWhenIwassevenyearsold,myparentsboughtmeandmybrotheraNintendoEntertainmentSystem,whichtheywouldeventuallyrefertoas“TheIdiotBox."Therewasanimplicitassumption(onethatpersistsamongmuchofthegeneralpublictoday)thatvideogamesweresimplyatoyandnothingofrealsubstancecouldbegainedfromthem.Consideringthiszandtheprevalenceofvideogamesinsociety,numerousquestionshavebeenraisedaboutthelong-termeffectsofregularuse.Whilethemediafocusisgenerallyonpotentialnegativeeffects,thereisalsoevidencetosuggestthattheremaybearangeofpotentialpositiveeffectsofvideogames.Inthisarticle,Iarguethatvideogamescanbeausefulpedagogicaltoolforeducatorsatalllevelsofacademia.Let'sconsiderasimpleanecdotalexampleofhowvideogamesmayencouragechildrentolearnlargeamountsofinformation.Pokemonisapopularchildren'sgameinwhichtheplayerhastofightandcollectvariouscreaturescalledzzPokemon/Eachofthe150possiblePokemonhasaname,a"type"(likewatertypeorfiretype),aweaknessandastrength(firetypesareweakagainstwatertypes,butstrongagainstgrasstypes),andastageofitsevolution(somePokemoncanturnintonewonesifyouusethemenough).Roughlyspeaking,thisgivesus5distinctpiecesofinformationperPokemonandmultiplyingthisby150gives750distinctunitsofinformation.Nowlet'sconsideranotherlistofinformationthatisconsideredmoreeducationallyimportant:theperiodictable.Withintheperiodictable,eachelementisdefinedbyasymbol,aname,anatomicnumberandweight,aphaseatroomtemperature,anditsmetalorgastype.Thatcomesto6distinctunitsofinformationpercell.Multiplyingthisby118,thetotalnumberofelements,gives708distinctunitsofinformationfortheperiodictable.Whatmakesthisinterestingisthattherearealargenumberofyoungchildren(andadultsforthatmatter)whocanrecitefrommemorymuchoftheinformationcontainedinthelistofPokemonzbutitwouldlikelybedifficulttofindthesamenumberofpeoplewhocoulddothatfortheperiodictable.Thepointisthatthemediumofvideogamesappearstohavethepotentialtofacilitatesignificantlearning.AsitturnsOULvideogamesaredesignedtoeffectivelybelearningmachines.Infact,manygamesstartoffwithasimpletutoriallevelthatteachestheplayerthebasicmechanicsofthegame.Throughoutthegame,thestrategyandtacticsneededtocompletetasksbecomemorecomplexwhiletheteachingmethodgraduallyswitchesfromanexplicittutorialtoanexperience-basedprocess.Essentially,gamesteachtheplayertheskillsneededtocriticallyevaluateanysituationwithinthegameanddeterminethebestcourseofaction.Starcraft2(aswellasitspredecessorsStarcraftandStarcraft:BroodWar)iswhatiscalleda”RealTimeStrategy'/game.Playersmustobtainvariousresourcesandusethemtopurchasebuildingsandfightingunits.Then,theymustfightanddefeattheirenemy.Toplaythisgamesuccessfully,playersmustmanagetheirtimeandresourcesmoreefficientlythantheiropponentsaseachbuildingandunithasadifferentcost,purpose,andbuildtime.Additionally,muchlikePokemon,unitshavestrengthsandweaknesses.AplayerhastoconstantlyupdatetheirstrategiesthroughoutthegameQD国IELTSADVANTAGEShortAnswerbasedontheirinteractionswiththeotherplayers,requiringsignificantplanningandcriticalthinkingskillsthatarehonedbyplayersovertime.Infact,whileStarcraftbeginnersperformlessthan100actions(ordecisions)perminute,professionalscanperformover400perminute.Despiteevidentin-gamelearning,oneconcernisthatvideogamescanonlybeusedtoteachplayersaboutgame-relatedinformationandnotabouteducationallyrelevantmaterial.However;recentresearchintothefieldofdigitalgame-basedlearningsuggeststhatthisisnotthecase.PsychologistCurtSquireconductedaqualitativecasestudyonasecondaryschoolhistoryclassinwhichhehadstudentsplayanhistoricalsimulationgamecalledCivilization3withtheintentionofhavingthestudentslearnabouthistoryfromplayingthegame.Itshouldbenotedthatthisgamewasnotdesignedspecificallyasaneducationalgame.Inthisgame,studentstakecontrolofacivilization(liketheAztecsortheFrench,forexample)andprogressthroughhistorydevelopingtechnology,engaginginsimulatedwarfareanddiplomacy,andmanagingtheeconomiesoftheirempires.Squirereportedthatplayingthisgameforeducationalpurposesseemedtobenefitstudentswhostruggledwithtraditionaleducation,thoughstudentswhotypicallyperformedwellpreferredtraditionalteachingmethods.Anotherwayinwhichvideogamesarelearningmachinesisthattheyarehighlymotivatingandthereforetheycaninducehigherstudentengagementcomparedtotraditionalteachingmethods.AccordingtothepsychologistKarlaHamIen,“despiteassumptionsthatchildrenplayvideogamestoavoidmentalstimulation,childrenareactuallymotivatedbythechallengeandthinkingrequiredbyvideogames.wSquirereportedthatthestudentsinhisstudyvoluntarily,andwithoutprovocation,spenttimelearningmoreabouthistoryfromthezzcivelopedia,zthatcomeswithCivilization3,whichisakindofencyclopaediawhichprovidesplayerswithhistoricallyaccurateinformationabouttheirchosencivilizationsandotheraspectsofthegame.Adaptedfrom:https:WWW.ncbi.nlm.nih.qov/DmC/articles/PMC4179712/Questions15-18ChooseNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSfrompassage2foreachanswer.15. Accordingtothearticle,whataspectsofvideogamesdomediareportsgenerallyemphasise?16. Bywhatmeansareplayerstaughthowtoplaymanyvideogameswhentheyfirststartplaying?17. Aswellasplanningskills,whatotherkindofskillisneededwhenplayingStarcraft2?18. WhatdidoneresearcherwantstudentstolearnaboutbyplayingCivilization3?