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?