Post on 16-May-2015
USING GAME BASED LEARNING IN ALGEBRA COURSES WITH
COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS
Presented byKathy Liska
Purpose
Math Anxiety Stress Remedial or
developmental mathematics
Immersion Processes Critical thinking
Statistics
National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) 2/3 of students entering high school graduate 2/3 of those graduates go on to higher
education 2/3 of those must take remedial classes in
college(Tough Choices or Tough Times)
More Statistics
21% of students applying to 4 year colleges are ready for college level reading, writing, math, or biology (NCEE)
43% at 2 year colleges and almost 30% at 4 year colleges have taken remedial classes Result $ 2.5 billion (Twigg)
Processes
Game playing Probing Hypothesis forming Reprobing Rethinking hypothesis another hypothesis (Gee)
Critical thinking Strategy
Games like learning ……
Cognition Social interaction Compelling Practice mastery Challenging but not “undoable” (Gee) Feeling of achievement
“Regime of competence” (Gee) Semiosis Critical thinking
Game-based Learning Tool Interactive Iterative Progressive Immersive Real world applications Instructor or commercially developed
games Students use program to develop games
Game Maker (http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker)
21st Century Skills
STEM Innovation Creativity International Adult Literacy Survey
USA 13 out of 20 in quantitative literacy
Role of Community Colleges
NCAT Gates Foundation Changing the Equation Process education
Experiential Project based learning
“In order to learn, one must do.” Carl Rogers
Student Participation
Active in own learning
Interactive software
Work at own pace Self-directed
learning
Mathematics Literacy
Steen “quantitative literacy needs to become as
pervasive in the curriculum as are reading and writing”
Paulos Innumeracy “when” of using math
Tall “shift focus of attention from steps of
procedure to the effect of the procedure”
Case Study
Algebra I classes 1 instructor 2 Classes Spring 2010
1 control 1 experimental
2 Classes Fall 2010 2 experimental
4 weeks middle of semester
Systems of equations
Case Study Control
Paper and pencil homework and practice problems
Experimental Paper and pencil Online math games
Use each game at least once Use >= 2 hours per week Keep track of how long used each game
Case Study - Games
Each game has different skill level options
Familiarity Three games:
Systems of Equations Jeopardy
Systems of Equations Hoop Shots
One-step Equations: Battleship
Jeopardy
www.quia.com/cb/79607.html 4 categories
Solve by graphing Solve by substitution Solve by elimination Systems of inequalities
5 point options per category 1 or 2 player option
Hoop Shots www.crctlessons.com/systems-of-equatio
ns-game.html 3 categories
Rookie Experienced Superstar
1 or 2 player option
Hoop Shots
Timed 1 player option Time increased by 3 sec. for each correct
answer Time decreased by 5 sec. for each incorrect
answer After 10 questions answered
Make as many shots as possible in accumulated time
Each basket made = 3 points
Battleship
www.quia.com/ba/36544.html Human vs computer 3 Levels
Easy Medium Hard
Surveys Anonymous Pre and post Qualitative and quantitative 5 point Likert scale
1 = strongly disagree 2 = disagree 3 = undecided 4 = agree 5 = strongly agree
Surveys
Some questions reverse coded
Math anxiety Motivation Demographics
Hypotheses
Hypothesis #1: Students will report having less math anxiety
when they use game based learning in their algebra courses.
Hypothesis #2: Students will attempt to solve more practice
problems when using game based learning rather than traditional pencil and paper approach.
Hypotheses
Hypothesis #3: Students using game based learning will
report feeling more motivated to attempt difficult problems.
Hypothesis #4: Younger students will more easily adapt to
using a new game program for practicing algebra problems than older students.
Results
Experimental 8 out of 32 used games (25%) Equal number of males and females Ages (Game Users)
Females 18 - 22 Males 18 – 30
Ages (Non Game Users) Females 18 – 26 Males 18 - 39
No real difference
Results – Game Usage
“If you did not use any of the games, please indicate why by choosing one of the following” Non Game Users
76.5% (13/17) selected “not enough time”
2 selected “other” 1 selected “didn’t see the
point”, “not interested”, and “other”
Results - Anxiety
Likert scale Higher scores indicate a higher level of
anxiety Mean score
Control group 33.9 Experimental non game users 31 Experimental game users 27
Anxiety Likert Scores
Experimental Control
Non Game Users Game Users
Mean 31 27 33.9
Median 32 26 32
Mode 33 No mode 41
StandardDeviation 9 9.5 7.2Range 57 (15-52) 29 (15-44) 20 (23-43)n 24 8 14
Individual Anxiety Scores
Game users Reduction in scores for all but 1 student Average reduction = 8.6
Range -22 points to +4 points
Attempting Difficult Problems
Not much difference Inconclusive Need for more research
Control Pre-Game Post-Game
Skip hard problems 26.5% 19.4% 23.8%
Future Research
Larger sample size Embed games in Algebra course
Curriculum development Throughout all modules not just one
Game development for adults Games limited in scope Game Maker
Game Maker
Have students create game based on given scenario
Parameters to measure How long it takes to do homework Comfort level of students using Game Maker Impact on students performance?
Lessons Learned
Use more specific questions in survey What about online classes?
Comparison with traditional classroom Embed game based learning in Algebra
curriculum Compare to traditional classroom
Conclusions
More research is necessary Need for new tools to assist students Need for innovative approach to teach
math Use of real world applications Need for game development geared
toward adult college students Continuous mathematics literacy needs
to be reinforced starting in early childhood
Works Cited
Gee, James Paul. What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
National Center on Education and the Economy (2008). Tough Choices or Tough Times. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Steen, Lynn Arthur. “How Mathematics Counts.” Educational Leadership, 65.3 (November 2007): 8-14. Empire State College EBSCOHost database. 31 May 2009.
Tall, David. “The transition to formal thinking in mathematics.” Mathematics Education Research Journal. 20.2 (2008): 5-24. Empire State College EBSCOhost. 31 May 2009.
Questions?