"The turnout for each of the study breaks continued to rise every semester."

~Paul Waelchli
St. Norbert College
De Pere, WI

Gaming Study Break

University of Dubuque, Dubuque, IA

Gaming events are hosted by the library during the end of semester study break. Holding the event required no convincing, since the student life organization held similar events.

Running the Program

Initially, the library staff brought in board games to play. After the success of the first study break, the library began building a board game collection that was used during each of the following semesters. The library's growing board game collection was put to good use each semester with a number of large groups of students playing games.

PS2 Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) Supernova and DDR Supernova 2 were played during 2007 and spring of 2008. The mats were consistently busy with both students and library staff playing. The library used Wii Sports for the Fall 2008 study break. During the Spring 2008 Study Break, eight football student athletes set up their own DDR tournament that continued beyond the scheduled time for the study break.

Marketing

Study break gaming events for college students & faculty were publicized with posters in and outside of the library.

Equipment

During the study break event, the library offered a PS2 and an LCD projector. Participants played DDR SuperNova, DDR SuperNova 2, and Guitar Hero II on PlayStation 2 consoles.

Facility

An existing classrooms for the study break events.

Literacy Connections

To play DDR or Guitar Hero, players must be able to read, to set up the game, and choose a song. There is on-screen reading during the gameplay, as steps and progress are rated.

Evidence suggests that rhythm games like DDR and Guitar Hero improve reading skills of ADHD students. Matching movements to visual and rhythmic auditory cues, DDR may strengthen neural networks involved in reading and attention and thereby improve student outcomes.

Impact

The total number of participants ages 18-30 was 330 total: 59 first semester, 74 second semester, 87 third semester, and 110 fourth semester.

Funding $180.00

The library paid for gaming materials; campus Student Government Association helped fund the food for the event.

Gaming Materials: $100.00.

• Sony PlayStation 2: $100.00
  

Games: $80.00

• DDR SuperNova: $40.00
• DDR SuperNova 2: $40.00

Resources

For more information, please contact Paul Waelchli at researchquest@gmail.com.

McGraw, Tammy et al. "The Effects of a Consumer-Oriented Multimedia Game on the Reading Disorders of Children with ADHD." DIGRA, 2005.

DDR Freak. DDR Freak, 2009. www.ddrfreak.com. February 26, 2009.
This support website for the popular music videogame Dance Dance Revolution features playlists, cheat codes and more.

Official Guitar Hero website. Red Octane, 2009. www.guitarhero.com. February 26, 2009.
This support website for the popular music videogame Guitar Hero features playlists, cheat code, an events calendar, merchandise and more.

Waelchli, Paul. Research Quest. http://researchquest.blogspot.com/. January 5, 2009.
Educational applications for videogames and gaming strategies.