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Stuck On Algebra
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| class by itself." Macworld |
| "An unobtrusive monitor, checking over your shoulder as you work, identifying errors" MacGuide |
| "The systematic step-by-step illustration of each solution is an especially nice feature." Math & Computer Education |
| "Other Algebra programs fell your product, which adapted to the students' own method of solving problems" Wes Marburger, Spokane, WA |
| Gaming Misunderstood How grown-ups misunderstood computer gaming. |
Grown-ups looked at kids addicted to
computer gaming and decided the way to
improve education was to bury the things
we want them to learn inside games. Big
mistake. Two mistakes, really.
First, it will not work. Games wrapped
around learning go wrong three ways.
They deliver learning badly, fail to tap
kids' intrinsic motivation, and implicitly
say to kids that we ourselves think
learning is a drag, a bitter pill requiring
sugar-coating.
computer gaming and decided the way to
improve education was to bury the things
we want them to learn inside games. Big
mistake. Two mistakes, really.
First, it will not work. Games wrapped
around learning go wrong three ways.
They deliver learning badly, fail to tap
kids' intrinsic motivation, and implicitly
say to kids that we ourselves think
learning is a drag, a bitter pill requiring
sugar-coating.
| "The best Algebra tutorial program I have seen... in a class by itself." Macworld |
Second, the grown-ups misunderstood why games are addictive. I
would guess that that is because they do not play these games, but
who has not become addicted to Tetris or Sudoku or something
along those lines? I fear they just did not think things through.
Too bad, because there are indeed lessons to be learned from
gaming and specific elements to be borrowed: failure without
consequence; an unbending standard of success; multiple ways to
improve; and learner control over how and when to use which
components of the system.
Our software (did I mention this is self-serving?) has all those
ingredients but is nothing like a game. In bio-engineeringese,
instead of splicing content genes into games we spliced gaming
genes into an algebra learning system.
Let's look in greater detail now at how conventional educational
games go wrong. As I said, they leave untapped the student's own
intrinsic motivation to learn. The grown-ups behind educational
games seem not to know that the worst student will take pride in
purely academic success. They sell kids short, and in doing so
miss out on the best kind of motivation there is.
This error is compounded by the message implicit in educational
games: "We concede that learning is no fun and there is no good
reason to learn so here's a game, go play." That is not realism, that
is a white flag of surrender and do not think for a second that kids
do not hear that message and take it to heart. And it does not have
to be that way.
The simple fact is that many teachers today already make learning
enjoyable and the worst-behaved student will, if we get through to
them, take great pride in learning for its own sake.
Note that I talk about enjoyment, not fun. My math classes were
enjoyable but we never played any games. The ingredients were
twofold. First, a teacher who liked math in its own right and
modelled for the students that math was cool and important.
Second, my students succeeded at math and everyone enjoys
success.
The other rap I made against educational games is that they
deliver learning badly. Let's break that down in the context of
Evolver Pre-Algebra from Tabula Digita, which works much like
their Dimenxian Algebra offering (both products soon to be
dropped for reasons unknown).
The first problem with such software is the time spent by the
learner doing things in the game that are not in fact focused on the
material meant to be learned. I spent more than a little time trying
to figure out my way across a somewhat magical bridge and got
across only by using a "cheat". Figuring out the trick had nothing
to do with the properties of prime, odd, or even numbers, so that
time was wasted.
The next problem is that the learner can "game" the system and
have game success without learning anything. From WolfWikis:
"Unfortunately, students who understand video game patterns
could complete the missions without gaining a deep
understanding of the underlying algebraic concepts. This
technology is relatively easy to learn by students who have
experience playing video games. " A good example here is that my
first task was to run around collecting prime numbers until a gate
opened. So I am going to learn to identify prime numbers, right?
Nope. It turns out that if I run over a prime number I have "picked
it up". If I run over a non-prime, nothing happens. OK, I'll just run
over numbers until I have picked one up, that's a prime. I can get
the gate open and not learn a thing.
Yes, I did then run into a conventional follow-up multiple choice
quiz asking conventional questions, and before the game play I had
been presented with a screen that looked exactly like something
from a math textbook. So there was some beef to the game, but
these conventional bits of content are an implicit concession that
learning cannot be delivered in the guise of a first-person
adventure simulation. The game play is now effectively a candy
reward for conventional study, doing little or nothing to reinforce
the lessons, but doing a lot to waste time and send kids the wrong
message about learning.
What gaming does teach us is to take the onus off failure while at
the same time holding students to an unbending standard of
success (these games do not grade on a curve). Gaming shows us
that as long as learners see steady improvement they will
persevere until they meet that standard. But gaming has an
advantage over most forms of instruction in that the feedback
happens in real-time, and continuously, so we need to catch up
with that and give Algebra students feedback as soon as they enter
each step of a solution, not just the answer.
What gaming also shows us is that we do not have to be in a 3-D
virtual world fighting off giant bugs to get drawn into an activity.
We can get addicted to Tetris on a three-inch GameBoy with horrid
sound, drawn in by the small successes of clearing each row and
the steady improvement we see of higher and higher scores, all for
what is in the end a pointless exercise fitting shapes together.
Algebra has the enormous advantage over Tetris of being a solid
scholarly craft, the starting point of abstract math. Kids do respect
mathematics, but many do not find it accessible because of the
absence of real-time feedback. Change that and Algebra will be as
enjoyable as any game.
would guess that that is because they do not play these games, but
who has not become addicted to Tetris or Sudoku or something
along those lines? I fear they just did not think things through.
Too bad, because there are indeed lessons to be learned from
gaming and specific elements to be borrowed: failure without
consequence; an unbending standard of success; multiple ways to
improve; and learner control over how and when to use which
components of the system.
Our software (did I mention this is self-serving?) has all those
ingredients but is nothing like a game. In bio-engineeringese,
instead of splicing content genes into games we spliced gaming
genes into an algebra learning system.
Let's look in greater detail now at how conventional educational
games go wrong. As I said, they leave untapped the student's own
intrinsic motivation to learn. The grown-ups behind educational
games seem not to know that the worst student will take pride in
purely academic success. They sell kids short, and in doing so
miss out on the best kind of motivation there is.
This error is compounded by the message implicit in educational
games: "We concede that learning is no fun and there is no good
reason to learn so here's a game, go play." That is not realism, that
is a white flag of surrender and do not think for a second that kids
do not hear that message and take it to heart. And it does not have
to be that way.
The simple fact is that many teachers today already make learning
enjoyable and the worst-behaved student will, if we get through to
them, take great pride in learning for its own sake.
Note that I talk about enjoyment, not fun. My math classes were
enjoyable but we never played any games. The ingredients were
twofold. First, a teacher who liked math in its own right and
modelled for the students that math was cool and important.
Second, my students succeeded at math and everyone enjoys
success.
The other rap I made against educational games is that they
deliver learning badly. Let's break that down in the context of
Evolver Pre-Algebra from Tabula Digita, which works much like
their Dimenxian Algebra offering (both products soon to be
dropped for reasons unknown).
The first problem with such software is the time spent by the
learner doing things in the game that are not in fact focused on the
material meant to be learned. I spent more than a little time trying
to figure out my way across a somewhat magical bridge and got
across only by using a "cheat". Figuring out the trick had nothing
to do with the properties of prime, odd, or even numbers, so that
time was wasted.
The next problem is that the learner can "game" the system and
have game success without learning anything. From WolfWikis:
"Unfortunately, students who understand video game patterns
could complete the missions without gaining a deep
understanding of the underlying algebraic concepts. This
technology is relatively easy to learn by students who have
experience playing video games. " A good example here is that my
first task was to run around collecting prime numbers until a gate
opened. So I am going to learn to identify prime numbers, right?
Nope. It turns out that if I run over a prime number I have "picked
it up". If I run over a non-prime, nothing happens. OK, I'll just run
over numbers until I have picked one up, that's a prime. I can get
the gate open and not learn a thing.
Yes, I did then run into a conventional follow-up multiple choice
quiz asking conventional questions, and before the game play I had
been presented with a screen that looked exactly like something
from a math textbook. So there was some beef to the game, but
these conventional bits of content are an implicit concession that
learning cannot be delivered in the guise of a first-person
adventure simulation. The game play is now effectively a candy
reward for conventional study, doing little or nothing to reinforce
the lessons, but doing a lot to waste time and send kids the wrong
message about learning.
What gaming does teach us is to take the onus off failure while at
the same time holding students to an unbending standard of
success (these games do not grade on a curve). Gaming shows us
that as long as learners see steady improvement they will
persevere until they meet that standard. But gaming has an
advantage over most forms of instruction in that the feedback
happens in real-time, and continuously, so we need to catch up
with that and give Algebra students feedback as soon as they enter
each step of a solution, not just the answer.
What gaming also shows us is that we do not have to be in a 3-D
virtual world fighting off giant bugs to get drawn into an activity.
We can get addicted to Tetris on a three-inch GameBoy with horrid
sound, drawn in by the small successes of clearing each row and
the steady improvement we see of higher and higher scores, all for
what is in the end a pointless exercise fitting shapes together.
Algebra has the enormous advantage over Tetris of being a solid
scholarly craft, the starting point of abstract math. Kids do respect
mathematics, but many do not find it accessible because of the
absence of real-time feedback. Change that and Algebra will be as
enjoyable as any game.