The 'Games are making kids stupid' meme is as fresh as ever, but new research from the university of Wisconsin suggests that video games might, in fact, be creating a generation of scientific thinkers - and not just through Dr Kawashima's Brain Training.

Constance Steinkuehler, professor of Education Communications (and WoW undead priest) noticed that the rest of her gaming clan (mainly teenage boys) were discussing theories on how to take down bosses and methodically testing these theories through experiment. The thought struck her - they were applying the scientific method. They were doing science.

Steinkuehler has published a research paper entitled "Scientific Habits of Mind in Virtual Worlds" which finds that around 50% of WoW players use 'systems based reasoning' to analyse game events while around 10% actively construct a scientific model of the game.

How Videogames Blind Us With Science [Wired]

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