Gamers everywhere: I might have some good news for you.
Your video game habits just might help you get the job you're looking for.
…well, sort of…
Reading, writing, and arithmetic. Most of the time, when people think of education,
these are what they think of. And as a result, schools today are primarily suited to the
types of students — and even teachers — who excel in language arts and math.
But because of this narrow focus, society is missing out on innovation and productivity
from a large pool of people who could be engineers, inventors, technical workers, and tradespeople.
What schools are ignoring is spatial reasoning: The ability to generate, retain, retrieve,
and transform well-structured visual images.
It is related to the shape,
size,
orientation,
location,
direction,
or trajectory of objects and their relative positions.
As you can see, you’ve most likely had your spatial skills challenged and improved
by video games.
A current study with my Northwestern University colleagues uses a modified version of one
of the most popular games of all time: Minecraft. Our version of the game enables players to
control their avatar not just through the keyboard, but also through voice commands,
through physical blocks, and even through eye movements.
Of course, we don’t know exactly what the results will be, but
we expect that games like Minecraft could help children and adults develop practical
spatial and computational skills for future careers in science, technology, engineering,
and math.
While it’s necessary to be able to solve equations and understand literature, almost
every STEM professional also needs to be able to visualize and build things. Spatial reasoning
is a strong predictor of success in visual arts, and in vocational, manufacturing, and
technical careers.
Granted, lots of spatially-talented students will end up designing rockets without a change
in education policy — these students may have been bending metal and building things
since they were little. But they also excelled in reading and math. That’s how they got admitted
to college to get that job. However, the existing system fails to identify many students with
spatial strengths. As a consequence, they may miss out on fulfilling and lucrative
careers in the trades or in engineering. Instead of building houses or fixing airplanes, lots
of these kids just end up wasting their potential.
So, what can policymakers do? Should Minecraft be a standard in classrooms? Well, maybe not,
but schools and parents shouldn’t discourage activities like gaming, either.
More realistically, schools should start training spatial reasoning as early as kindergarten,
to make sure some students don’t get left behind.
Throughout school, programs like robotics competitions can help students further develop
their skills. Schools, especially vocational and technical schools, should also incorporate
hands-on experience and virtual reality learning.
Unfortunately, teachers throughout K-12 education tend to have lower spatial and higher verbal
and math skills, and thus they may not be able to identify students with excellent spatial
abilities. So, teachers also need to be trained to understand, recognize, and value spatial
reasoning.
Finally, to help maximize higher education opportunities for all students — especially
those from lower-income families — spatial elements should be incorporated into tests
like the ACT and SAT. While colleges do not undervalue spatial skills, many students who
are not already excellent in reading and math don’t make it to that level of education.
Now, if you’re a kid or a parent out there, none of the research should be construed as
a reason to stop studying the three Rs! It just means that your computer game hobby
could help you develop the skills necessary for some very lucrative, creative careers.
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