Summary: | <p> Games contribute to the whole-person, academic, and career development of college-aged individuals (Alderman, 2015). However, many higher-education institutions do not sponsor gaming as a collegiate extracurricular activity, thereby possibly eliminating the opportunity of an all-inclusive environment (Alderman, 2015). To elucidate the problem, Astin and Antonio’s (2012) I-E-O model was engaged as conceptual framework for college-aged individuals’ perception of Magic the Gathering’s role in their whole-person, academic, and career development. The purpose of the study was to employ Magic the Gathering as the input; higher-education institutions as the environment; and whole-person, academic, and career development as the outcome. Descriptive survey data were gathered regarding college-aged individuals’ perception of Magic the Gathering’s role in whole-person, academic, and career development. Since this study is the first of its kind, a survey was an appropriate instrument for the research (Creswell, 2013). The sample to participate in the survey were college-aged individuals from North America and Europe who played Magic the Gathering. After an in-depth analysis by means of quantitative methods, descriptive statistics were used to determine college-aged individuals perceived Magic the Gathering plays somewhat of a role in their whole-person development. Furthermore, by analyzing the descriptive statistics, it was found that college-aged individuals perceived Magic the Gathering plays somewhat of a role in their academic development. Lastly, per the descriptive analysis taken through the survey, college-aged individuals perceived Magic the Gathering played very little of a role in their career development.</p>
|