Math Video Games

Recent I've read many articles and research reports about technology and video games in general. I've learned much from these, but my real interest, as the title of my blog suggests, is math education. It's a challenge to find good information about math video games or any technology as it relates to math education.

Today I viewed an archived webinar from Edweb. Edweb is a professional social networking site for teachers. They recently hosted a webinar with Keith Devlin, a college professor doing research on all types of media and how they can help teach math.

During this webinar, titled Re-Invigorating Math Education with the Next Generation of Mathematics Education Video Games, Devlin discussed how we use math in different ways, and that maybe we should teach it in different ways. I highly recommend this webinar as it provides a good overview of what is available in math video games. Devlin does a good job of describing when the programs can be helpful but also their limitations.

One thing I appreciated hearing from Devlin is that math games like DimensionM are not really games. He made the point that as soon as you see "Commutative Property" pop up on the screen, you know you are no longer in a game. "Games" like this can be a fun, engaging way to review/drill skills. They are an electronic version of flash cards set in a virtual world. You'll see in the video embedded here that students play what looks like the typical video game with pop-ups of multiple-choice math problems. (You may want to skip to about 1:35 of the video.) For me, it felt really disruptive. I had to get rid of the math problem in order to continue on with the game. That's one way of using video games but, in my opinion, it doesn't give the greatest benefit technology, and video games in general, have to offer.

Ko's Journey is math video game that provides a back story and allows students to encounter math within the context of the story. The video embedded here will give you the flavor of Ko's Journey. I would love to get access to the full game. From what I have seen, the storyline would certainly engage me. I'd like to see if the math is presented in a way that seems part of the story, rather than an interruption.

 

I realize this post is getting rather long and I've only reviewed the first 1/3 of the webinar. I highly recommend taking the time to view the full webinar. For those who don't have the chance, I'll make a Part 2 post with at least the other games mentioned.

If you are interested in hearing more of what Keith Devlin has to say about video games and math, you can read an article by Devlin, Learning Math with a Video Game. You may also want to check out his book, Mathematics Education for a New Era: Games as a Medium for Learning.

Keith Devlin is also "The Math Guy" on NPR. At this link you can listen to audio clips of his work for the radio show "Weekend Edition".

Click here to go to Part 2 of this post.

Games in Education

Photo provided by Bjorn Hermans.

This semester I'm taking a course on educational games and simulations from Boise State University. I'm excited about this course for many reasons. The first is obvious. I'm a game lover. Some of my best memories from growing up is playing games with my family. And I still love gathering with friends, both on and offline, to play games.

As a tutor first, then as a teacher, I incorporated games in my teaching. I just knew that they would encourage even the most reluctant student to just try. In the classroom, there's a fear of being wrong, of failing. That doesn't exist in games. If you lose, you aren't a failure. You can try again and you might win the next time. Removing the fear of failure makes students more likely to participate.

I have known the value of games just by experience. Now I want to learn more about what the research and the experience of game developers tells us. I want to be able to create educational experiences that utilize the best games have to offer.

Image provided by Fantasy Art.

Besides my love of games and wanting to know more about how to utilize them to improve education, there's one more major reason I'm excited about the course I'm taking. This course is set up using a gaming structure. Instead of having assignments, I have quests. Instead of earning a grade on class activities, I earn points. My goal is to "win the class" by earning 2000 XPs.

The logical side of my brain is fighting against this concept. It feels like putting a game shell on top of a class. I'm doing the same things I would have done in a regular class. The only difference is that I earn points towards leveling up. Will that game shell really make a difference?

At the same time, the game-lover in me is curious. Will this gaming format engage me in a way I haven't been engaged in a class before? Will I do more work just to earn more points? Will I feel in competition with my classmates and be driven to earn more points so that I can outrank them?

One of the quests I selected today involved watching this TED talk.  I have seen much better videos about gaming and how to use their mechanics in education. But this video is a good introduction if you haven't read much about gaming. It starts with some staggering statistics on how much we are spending on games. The speaker, Tom Chatfield, eventually explains 7 ways in which games engage us.
It's a bit dry, but informative.

During the video, I found myself musing about creating a game-based learning math course. There are so many resources on the web (mostly low quality, but there are a few gems) that it seems like it would be easy enough to pull together a set of activities to create at least a mini-math quest. Without creating a few of my own tools or using offline materials, I could not cover all of the skills expected by the Common Core State Standards for any grade. But I could definitely create a game that could be used as a component of a math course. The teaching would happen offline, in the classroom. The game would be a way for students to maintain math skills they had learned. It would be the "spoonful of sugar" that would make homework more enjoyable.

Eventually, it is my goal to create a math game that does teach, in addition to provide practice, in a game-based format. This game will engage students, put them in the drivers seat of math in way that helps them understand it in a meaningful way, not just a memorization of rules. Students will learn math by doing math in situations they find interesting. Doing so will require a team of software developers, math education whizzes, and all sorts of creative types, just as game developers do. I am certain my ideas for this game will continue to morph this semester. I'll be throwing out what doesn't work and pulling in more of what works. It'll be an interesting process of refinement that I am curious to see develop over the coming months.

Related articles

• Bribing Students to Learn their Math Facts (prweb.com)
• Daily iPad App: Motion Math HD (tuaw.com)
• Motion Math: Helping Drive iPad and Education Research (wired.com)
• MIT's Education Arcade uses online gaming to teach science (technology-headlines.com)