Can Video Gameplay Improve Undergraduates' Problem-Solving Skills?

In this study, the authors investigated if two distinct types of video gameplay improved undergraduates' problem-solving skills. Two groups of student participants were recruited to play either a roleplaying video game (World of Warcraft; experimental group) or a brain-training video game (CogniFit; control group). Participants were measured on their problem-solving skills before and after 20 hours of video gameplay. Two measures were used to assess problem-solving skills for this study, the Tower of Hanoi and The PISA Problem Solving Test. The Tower of Hanoi measured the rule application component of problem-solving skills and the PISA Problem Solving test measured transfer of problem-solving skills from video gameplay to novel scenarios on the test. No significant differences were found between the two groups on either problem-solving measure. Implications for future studies on game-based learning are discussed.