Something isn't adding up

What to expect:

6 min read

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This week, we tackle our globally dropping math scores. Here’s what you’re about to become an expert in:

• Tech Talk: Math is about to become your favorite RPG

• Surplus Scoop: Is your school open year round? Do you want it to be?

• Brainy Bits: Are video games better than good ol’ fashioned manipulatives?

Tech Talk

Game on!

The Problem:

International scores in literacy, science, and math, as we saw last week, have dropped significantly. What can we do to help math scores improve?

We see quite a bit of variation between countries and their math scores. But unlike global literacy scores, we see a much sharper slope downward when it comes to math proficiency. Where’s this coming from?

There are many factors at play here. Math, depending on the country, often carries an “it’s too difficult” reputation among students and even teachers. This can lead to simpler lessons to save time and effort.

Math also isn’t like literacy in the sense that, if we take advice from last week, we can’t always ask for student input to increase engagement. This leaves us with some outdated, and dare we say boring ways to teach what many students consider to be their most difficult subject. Add in a need for a virtual environment and we have a nasty recipe.

The Solution:

So is there an app out there that can make math engaging, easier to understand, and still be done in a virtual environment should the need ever arise? Yes, there is! 

Prodigy started as a math-only app but can now be found for language teachers and is the definition of gamification. For those unfamiliar, imagine if Pokémon, a math textbook, and Street Fighter had some weird, very engaging-math-teaching baby.

In this game, students design a character that they take on quests and engage in battles with, earning rewards along the way. How do they win? By answering and practicing story-related math questions.

Teachers can customize it to their curriculum levels and subject areas, and collect data on results to get great assessment data to use for report cards.

How about YOUR classroom:

The best part - if you’re a teacher, this app is 100% free.  

According to Prodigy’s own studies, using their game can double the reported engagement/enjoyment levels of your math classes, and have students master up to 68% more math skills per month. Woah.

Keep in mind that like all gamified elements, use it but don’t abuse it. Gamification works best when used in addition and not as the sole tool. Otherwise, it can lose its novelty quite fast.

Also, although there are ways to use Prodigy to teach and not just for practice, we feel it’s best at home somewhere in the middle. We recommend to still teach brand new concepts more traditionally, but replace some of the outdated practice problems with a game like Prodigy. “Get your character to the next level” sounds way better than “do problems 2-14 on page 325”.

The fast data can also act as an instant indicator of when your students are ready to move on to the next topic, saving you quiz making and marking time. This may be the fun time saver you’ve been looking for - it just also happens to be free.

Surplus Scoop

Here’s our weekly roundup of interesting education stories from around the world. Click each link to learn more:

• Canadian teachers - Walmart is giving you 10% off everything this week. Have at it!

• Feeling the pressure to spend your own money on your classroom? Well, that led this teacher to spending over $4,000.

• Summer may be over for some, but it never started for others. Here’s why not every school can be open year-round.

Brainy Bits

But does it have to be online?

The Study:

This week’s study is a quasi-experiment published in 2024 that aimed to see if the type of game played had an impact on student learning. In other words, do our classroom games always have to be virtual to improve student engagement?

Previous studies have shown that both students and teachers have different preferences when it comes to virtual and physical games in the classroom. Gamification as a whole has proven to increase engagement already, but the type of game can also impact results - especially in math class.

Researchers took 103 elementary students, giving half a digital series of games, and the other half a series of physical games. Each group was to use it to learn and practice new math skills, led by their usual teacher.

Three topics (and three accompanying games) were used that covered numeracy, logic, and geometry. Results of how each group of students did in each topic (after being assessed) were then compared.

The Results:

Three topics, and three games, means we have three results. For geometry, 87% of students using the virtual option succeeded in the assessment, while only 33% of the physical game group did. 

In numeracy, the digital game group scored an average of 68% while the physical group scored an average of 60%. However, the physical group had a higher number of students achieving a perfect score. 

Lastly, for logic (i.e. application), digital gamers scored a mere 28% average, while physical gamers scored only marginally higher at 32%.

So basically, we get a researcher’s favorite answer when it comes to results - “it depends”. Certain topics lend themselves better to a virtual game, and others to a physical, but why?

The human brain, regardless of age, is going to prefer what it already knows. For example, the basics of geometry are very visual, and so it makes sense that beyond the need to physically touch a shape (i.e. pre-k), a virtual game should be the better bet. Also consider that there is much more past experience with shapes by the time primary grades occur, meaning physical tasks may seem boring.

Note that logic/application scores are the lowest for both study groups. Students are struggling with the application of abstract ideas - something that a game by itself, whether it be virtual or physical, may not be able to help.

How about YOUR classroom:

So we know gamification can be a useful engagement strategy, but it should not just be slapped on every new math lesson. If it’s a brand new topic that requires lots of new skills to be created, maybe stay away from the games.

Research has shown that gamification is best used for practice to develop skills where foundations are already built. For completely new chapters and ideas, a more basic lesson may be the better play to make.

But for students who already have some of the basic skills developed, try to incorporate some gamified elements. It does not always need to be a full mobile app either. Sometimes a simple reward system is the only gamified element a student needs.

Regardless, studies like these show us that as cool and engaging as technology has made gamification, you don’t always need a virtual option. Especially for our youngest learners, sometimes a physical manipulative is all that is needed.

There isn’t a point in breaking something that already works!

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References

This week’s issue adapts information from the following sources:

Tech Talk:

Prodigy. (2024). Make learning fun, adaptive, and insightful. Retrieved from https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/teachers/

Brainy Bits:

Debrenti, E. 2024. Game-based learning experiences in primary mathematics education. Frontiers in Education, 07(9). https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1331312