Community College Uses a Video-Game Lab to Lure Students to Computer Courses

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Video: Officials at Northern Virginia Community College have turned a computer lab into a "Game Pit" to try to build community on the campus.

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By JEFFREY R. YOUNG

Alexandria, Va.

A computer lab has become one of the most popular hangouts at Northern Virginia Community College after officials decided to load its PC's with popular video games, install a PlayStation and an Xbox, and declare it "for gamers only."

On an afternoon this fall, nearly all of the 15 computers were in use, and students stared in concentration — some gunning down bad guys in Counter-Strike, others strumming along with Guitar Hero. No one was doing any classwork.

But the goal of the lab is very much college-related. It is to entice students to take game-design and other IT courses, says John Min, dean of business technologies on the college's campus here.

Mr. Min decided to create the Game Pit, as the lab is called, because he noticed that IT enrollment had been falling since 1999. "We need to find ways to get more students," he says.

Posters and fliers in the gaming lab list the many computer courses offered, and professors sometimes stop in to tout their courses.

It is too soon to tell whether the effort will raise enrollment, say professors in the department. At least one student playing here, though, says he plans to take a course next semester that he learned about at the Game Pit. "There's actually a gaming class," says the student, Abdullah Alhogbani. "When I saw the poster I was like 'Oh, that's awesome.'"

David Williamson Shaffer, an associate professor of education psychology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, says the community college could be on to a winning strategy. He is the author of How Computer Games Help Children Learn.

"There is some data that suggests that one of the reasons that kids go into technical fields is when they have early technological experiences, many of which are playing computer games or using them in other ways," he says. Games can also give students skills that could pay off in the work force, especially ones in which players work collaboratively to beat opponents, he adds.

Mr. Min, who stops by at least once a week to check in on the lab and play a game or two, says it has already succeeded at one other important goal: giving students a place to hang out between classes. Since commuter students are the norm here, as at most two-year colleges, it can be difficult to build a sense of community, says Mr. Min.

A Sense of Community

"We don't have a varsity sports team, we don't have a fraternity or sorority — there's no place for students to bond," he says. "If you can form communities, then students tend to stick together, and they tend to stick with the school."

Kristen Garrett, a student at the college, says she often stops by between classes. "If I wasn't playing here, I'd be playing at home on my computer," she says.

A new video-game club has attracted more than 110 members, who take turns volunteering to oversee the Game Pit. They make sure none of the equipment vanishes, and they enforce the rules, which forbid swearing or bringing in food or drinks. Oh, and there's no Web surfing allowed. (There are other computer labs for that).

Students in the game club have also organized video-game tournaments, and they hope to draw local high-school gamers into future face-offs.

"We would like to take the image of what's happening in that game scene and project it in our cafeteria," says Mr. Min. "We will have cheering squads and an announcer — and have students cheering for their team."

The Game Pit is also a new highlight of the campus tour. Mr. Min says that prospective students are surprised to see a lighter side of the college, and that the game room is one of the things they remember from their visit.

"Once we get them hooked, then they will see the school from a totally different perspective," he says.

"If I can get one of these high-school students who never thought of going to community college" to come here because of the Game Pit, he says, "I'll be happy."

Mr. Min hopes to move the game lab to a bigger location next year. And he hopes to increase the variety of games offered, in part to try to attract more women. (Only about three female students are regulars there, he says).

The expanded Game Pit might get a bit more serious, too. Mr. Min would like to set up workstations where students could design their own games — doing the homework for their game-design courses.