While students everywhere these days struggle with balancing work with playing video games, a new class at a college in southwest China allows pupils to do both simultaneously.

The course, titled "Recent Development of Electronic Sports and Analysis of DOTA teams," aims to improve students' teamwork spirit, according to course teacher Zeng Qingqing at Chongqing Energy College, reports Xinhua news agency.

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'Defense of the Ancients' (DOTA) is a multiplayer online battle arena mod for the video game "Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos." The objective of the game is for each team to destroy the opponents' Ancient, heavily guarded structures at opposing corners of the map.   

Zeng said that class content centers on the analysis of teamwork strategies, rather than teaching students how to play online games.

"Electronic sport courses cultivate their ways of thinking, a sense of perseverance and team coordination, which are necessary after they step into society," Zeng said.

The course, which meets once a week, has been wildly popular at the college, as each class has attracted more than twice the numbre of students that are supposed to show up, a student surnamed Wang told Xinhua.

"It's insanely popular and has become the hottest optional course in our college," Wang said.

Xiao Jian, deputy head of the college academic administration, said the college will test students at the end of term to evaluate the value of the course.

While this may be new to Chinese centers of higher learning, it's nothing new in the U.S. The Entertainment Software Association provides a long list of U.S. colleges that offer video game course, certificates and degree programs.

TagsDefense of the Ancients, DOTA, Zeng Qingqing, Chongqing Energy College, Xiao Jian, video game course