Research Sources: A students life on Campus

At first, I contemplated writing about the Sun Devil Canyon, which was what my first project was focused upon. The reason I am not going to focus upon it this time is due to the fact that the first time around I could not find much information on it. Moreover, I myself am a college student living on campus and I am interested in diving into and researching maybe what are some of the benefits of living on campus and what are some of the activities of some students that differ from my own. Thus, I will now focus project two on a particular student’s life, living on the ASU Tempe campus. I will be exploring and following what areas and places he usually spends his time in. Furthermore, the overall reason for my decision on following this particular student is to reveal a more concentrated perspective of living on a college campus such as Tempe. I will evaluate my topic by personally following him to his certain areas as well as questioning on his reasons for being in those areas. Then I will attempt to find the bigger meaning of what he does and find the out physical and mental benefits of his activities as they relate to academia and social life in a college atmosphere.

            My first source is form a scholarly article called “Quality of College Life (QCL) of Students: Developing and Validating a Measure of Well-Being” by M. Joseph Sirgy, Stephan Grzeskowiak and Don Rahtz. It is approximately twenty three pages in length. The article deals with exploring and researching students living on campus. It tries to find a relationship with the quality of life on campus and the student’s health, motivation in academics, and social life. There is a broad focus upon the college life as well as a individualistic focus on several students form different Universities. Furthermore, the reason I chose this article is due to the fact that I have similar interests into seeing the links in living on campus and school. Their research method is also similar to my own, when it comes to the part of studying individual students. This source ultimately has a large amount of information that can be learned and applied to my particular subject.

            My second source is “An Investigation of Broad and Narrow Personality Traits in Relation to General and Domain-Specific Life Satisfaction of College Students” by John W. Lounsbury, Richard A. Saudargas, Lucy W. Gibson and Frederick T. Leong. It is approximately twenty two pages in length. The article focuses upon the satisfaction and lives of college students. It dives into finding links between the campus atmosphere and experiences and how they relate to a student dropping out or doing well in their academics. Furthermore, the reason I chose this article is because it may reveal reasons for what area and activities the student that I am following does and how it my mentally affect him.

            My third source is a book titled, How Students Make Meaning of their Intentional Out-of-class Educational Experiences. The book is by Isett-Levett and Kerry Lynn. It is approximately 149 pages. This book has a focus on what students in college participate in on their free time. The authors find a links between college life and how well students do in school and participate socially. The reason for choosing this is once again because it closely relates to my project and goes along to with I will be researching.

http://jettcattaniproject2.blogspot.com/2012/10/one-students-life-on-campus-benefits.html

Evaluation: Borderlands 2

Evaluating a video game can be a very challenging task because what exactly makes a great game is highly debatable. My idea for an exceptional video game is that a game must pass five different criteria. Number one is good graphics. This is the category for the overall visuals of the game. Is the video game up to date on how games it should look in this day and age? Or is the game pushing and redefining what all new video games should look like. Then the second criteria I am looking for is the overall sound quality of the game. This would include any music and voice acting within the game. The third criteria would be how playable the game controls are. I am looking to see if the controls are too hard or too easy or just broken. The fourth is ultimately the entertainment of the game. This would include if the game is interesting, fun, and has a gratifying story line. Lastly, I am looking at the game for its replay value. Basically seeing whether or not a gamer plays the game one time and puts it down. Or instead keeps on playing it for months. Ultimately, I will evaluate Borderlands 2 through these criteria.

            On August 20, Borderlands 2 became available to purchase around the world in almost any video game or electronics store. This game was a sequel to the very successful  Borderlands that came out in 2009. I played much of the first the game and loved it. Thus, on the first day that Borderlands 2 was released I bought it right away and am still very addicted to it. I am pleased to find out that the sequel is not only as good at the prequel but in fact much better and improved. Furthermore, this game pretty much passes all my five of my criteria with an A+.  First of all, the graphics are beautiful and much improved. The hand drawn animated world of Pandora (a planet that the game is set in) is far more beautiful and diverse than ever before. The characters, humans, animals, and enemies of the game all have different and distinct looks to them. Instead of having generic looking enemies and allies from the first game, the artists have really made an effort to change that fact with this sequel and with ultimately great success. Moreover, the sound quality is great and even more improved. All the hilarious dialogue is delivered perfectly to the player. The sounds of explosions and gun fire make the game feel superbly realistic and the music goes great with the adrenaline fueled game. Furthermore, the controls are smooth and up to par with any other top FPS genre  to date. First time gamers will have little trouble mastering the controls to the game. I found this out by having to people who have never played or have very little experience with the FPS genre and it only took them less than a minute to learn the controls. Additionally, entertainment wise this game is hilarious, action packed, interesting, and one of the best gaming experiences I have ever had. Borderlands 2 actually has a specific story line and an antagonist. Just this fact about the game makes the game much better than its sequel, which lacked both a specific story line and a main antagonist. Lastly, this game will attract gamers to replay this game many times over. Because of its new classes and skill trees, it will entice players to try to create the best possible character or try to master a new ones.  Moreover, the cooperative multiplayer that Borderlands 2 has to offer will give gamers another reason to play this game again and again with their friends in this instance.

Source:http://gamefly2.gameflycdn.com/images/games/e/179990e.jpg

            Overall, this game is one of the best games I have ever played. It surpassed my expectations and met all of my criteria with flying colors. This is a must have for any Borderlands fans and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys first person shooters. If you want to have a funny, exciting, and an adrenaline pumped ride, then Borderlands 2 is the game to get. Dare I say that it should be the winner for the title of game of the year in this year’s Video Game Awards?