The MEGASKILLS project is looking for participants to collaborate in a research experience, between February 2024 -March 2024, to test how specific soft skills can be trained using specific video games.
Type of Research Intervention
This is a pre-post experimental model research. Participation in this research project will entail the possibility to enrol in 1 different video game via Steam. Prior to the beginning of the experimental period in February 2024, a total of 5 different groups will be generated: 4 groups will have video game interaction while one more group will act as control group with no video game interaction. You will be notified in early February about which group are you in along with the specific instructions to be followed (video game to play and links to tests to be completed).
The intervention will be focused on playing (or not) Steam video games specifically associated with 4 specific key soft skills: Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Flexibility/Adaptability and Time Management. Moreover, before and after the experimental period we will be assessing your soft skills level with different questionnaires in order to generate a baseline and then, after playing the video game, compare the probable improvement in your soft skills level.
Tasks
- January-February: starting several soft skills tests* and downloading the selected Steam video game.
- During February and March (2 months): generate a minimum of 15 hours of gameplay with the designed video game** (revealed to you at last January). Please note that you can play more than 15 hours if you wish to do so.
- Early April: completing again several soft skills tests*.
*Please take into account that the tests completion time may oscillate between 1:30h and 2:30h each time (pre and post phase).
**That will depend on if you end up in an experimental group that will play video games.
Rewards
- Raffle participation. Once you complete the minimum game hours and all the tests, you will enter the raffle list for the chance to win an Amazon Gift Card reward. The raffle will be performed in April 2024. There will be 5 raffles, one per group, so the chances to win are higher!
- Raffle Prizes. There is a total of 2.000€ in Amazon Gift Cards as prizes. You can WIN only one of the five 200€ cards (one per group), the five 100€ cards (one per group) and the twenty five 20€ cards available.
- Participation certificate. Once all interactions have been completed, participants will receive a document certifying their participation in the experiment.
Share your results and rewards on social media and tag us #MEGASKILLS. We want to share your success!
Once registered, you will receive further instructions with the next steps on January 15th 2024.
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Special conditions
Participants selection: All profiles are welcome to participate, we are looking for up to 500 participants.
Materials: Your own PC (Windows or Mac). You will have to install Steam and the designed video game in your computer to play whenever you want between the 2 experimental months.
Rewards: If you choose to participate in this investigation, you will be rewarded with:
- Soft skills evaluation report. At the end of the program, you will receive a small report regarding your soft skills level.
- Lottery participation. Once you completed the minimum game hours and all the tests, you will enter the lottery list for the chance to win an economic reward. The lottery will be performed in April 2024. There will be 5 lotteries, one per group, so the chances to win are higher!
- Steam Video Game: In case the video game played during the intervention is not a free game, the copy we will distribute to you will be yours for free as you will remain the owner of your Steam account and all the video games on your “Library”.
Confidentiality
Platform data management for playing video games:
- Registration process in internal platform and via Steam only includes an email ID and a password, there is no name requested hence email address will be our main identification element.
- Users must link their email to their Steam ID (which is only a number).
- We will collect the data from the Steam platform to cross analyse data with the soft skills tests.
Platform data and tests results:
- In the same internal project platform, you will complete both the pre and post-tests phases, again linking the all the data with the email ID.
- Of course, for statistical purposes we will include questions in the pre-test phase, related to sex and age and more demographic information, but we will never know who owns this specific data.
Who to Contact
If you have any questions, you can ask them through your university designated contact. For methodological or technical questions you may address Gecon.es Foundation, specifically to salloza@gecon.es.
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Disclaimer: Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.