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Research shows that collaborative gaming increases learning.
NDTV notes that;
“Playing educational video games either competitively or collaboratively with another player can enhance students‘ motivation to learn, a new study has found.
While playing a math video game collaboratively – as compared to playing alone – students adopted a mastery mindset that is highly conducive to learning, researchers said.
Moreover, students’ interest and enjoyment in playing the math video game increased when they played with another student.
The findings point to new ways in which computer, console, or mobile educational games may yield learning benefits.
“We found support for claims that well-designed games can motivate students to learn less popular subjects, such as math, and that game-based learning can actually get students interested in the subject matter?and can broaden their focus beyond just collecting stars or points,” said Jan Plass, a professor in New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and one of the study’s lead authors.
“Educational games may be able to help circumvent major problems plaguing classrooms by placing students in a frame of mind that is conducive to learning rather than worrying about how smart they look,” added co-lead author Paul O’Keefe, an NYU postdoctoral fellow at the time of the study.
The researchers focused on how students’ motivation to learn, as well as their interest and performance in math, was affected by playing a math video game either individually, competitively, or collaboratively.
Researchers had middle-school students play the video game FactorReactor, which is designed to build math skills through problem solving and therefore serves as diagnostic for learning.”
To read the full article click here,
Related articles
- Playing educational video games can boost kids’ motivation to learn (indiavision.com)
- Educational Video Games Help Students with Math Skills (scienceworldreport.com)
- Educational video games can boost motivation to learn, NYU, CUNY study shows (hispanicbusiness.com)
- Co-op gaming is a smart way to teach, says new research (polygon.com)
- Breaking Barriers: Video Games as Tools for Learning and Recovery (thetechscoop.net)
New online math game – Wowzers!
“A company that creates educational virtual worlds has introduced a new online product designed to help third through fifth graders get better at math. Wowzers comes from Brain Hurricane, a company that develops academic material for K-8 students in reading and math. The new release, which combines adaptive math instruction with game-based collaboration, was shown during the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference, which took place in San Diego last week…The Web-based service recently won the CODiE award for the best classroom management system and K-12 solution from the trade group Software & Information Industry Association, which runs an annual education-focused award program.”
Dian Schaffhause
http://thejournal.com/articles/2012/07/02/wowzers-tackles-elementary-math-with-online-games.aspx
The game costs $25 per student or $7000 per school.
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