This work analyses the video game culture in terms of perceptions, use, and preferences towards video games for a group of 610 university students, focusing on the impact of gender. The study is quantitative in nature, based on a cross-sectional survey and the subsequent statistical analysis of the data. Results show that students at this stage of life play video games and that they have – to a discernible degree – a video game culture, even though differences exist between men and women. Explanations for these differences, which affect other aspects like the platforms they use and their favourite games, are explored in the final part of the article. It seems that, besides their possibilities as an emergent media, video games are cultural products permeable and embedded in a context of gender inequity. This work aims to be a starting point for designing educational projects and policies that use video games in higher education while taking advantage of the diversity that this media can offer.

This is a systematic review of the impact of COVID-19 confinement on problematic video game use and addiction. The research questions were: (1) What instruments were used to measure problematic gaming and video game addiction in the context of COVID-19; (2) how many studies made comparisons with analogous samples measured at two timepoints (pre-confinement and confinement); and (3) what were the results of these studies in terms of a possible increase of problematic gaming and video game addiction during confinement. The review followed the PRISMA model and used Web of Science and Scopus. Following an initial identification of 99 articles, inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied leaving 31 articles in response to the first two research questions and 6 articles for the third. The results show that a wide variety of instruments were used, with IGDS9-SF and IGD-20 being the most common. A high number of non-validated ad hoc instruments were used. Only six (22.58%) of the 31 studies examined compared pre-confinement measures with measures during confinement. Those studies were inconclusive about the negative impact of confinement on the variables mentioned, with some studies noting an increase in problematic behaviors (n = 4) and others not confirming that (n = 2). The conclusion is a need for more scientific evidence based on validated instruments, consolidation of the concepts related to problematic gaming, and consideration of other theories such as the active user to produce more robust, transferrable findings.

This work shows a systematic literature review carried out within Scopus database to identify educational projects where games have been used to teach geography and history in secondary education. Following most of PRISMA methodology procedures, while adapting some of its protocols, we identified 255 works. After the first data cleaning, we applied our inclusion and exclusion criteria to end up with 125 relevant results which were refined in later stages. Within our final sample, we applied descriptive statistics to confirm that most projects appear in conference proceedings and that they use mainly educational games created ad hoc instead of commercial games. Many times, these projects have not been implemented and even in these cases, their educational impact is rarely measured rigorously.

El mapa conceptual es un recurso educativo cuyos beneficios están respaldados por investigaciones de prestigio. Sin embargo, su uso por parte de docentes, tanto en formación como con experiencia, suele ser escaso y poco eficaz. El propósito principal de esta investigación es analizar en qué medida los maestros en formación conocen, utilizan y atribuyen valor a esta herramienta, explorando también cómo perciben la formación recibida. Para ello, se plantea una aproximación cuantitativa a partir de los datos generados por estudiantes de 1º y 4º de magisterio en una facultad de educación española. Los resultados muestran una baja familiaridad de todos los grupos con el mapa conceptual, aunque le atribuyen un gran potencial educativo. Además, los estudiantes consideran insuficiente la formación recibida en esta herramienta, lo que consideramos un problema al encontrarnos en un contexto en el que la organización y el tratamiento de la información son una competencia clave.

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