MIND+Institute+Math+Game+(Megan)

media type="youtube" key="2VLje8QRrwg" width="560" height="315" For this assignment, I decided to play a game created by MIND Institute. I recently watched a TED Talk about teaching math without words with Matthew Peterson. I’ve included a link to the talk below as it was really interesting. The whole basis of the talk was the idea typically all teaching involves words in some way or another. Peterson is dyslexic and often struggled in school, like many other students. He stated that in the state of California, 25% are ELLs, 15% have language based learning deficiencies, 20% fail language comprehension tests, and a large portion of the remaining students characterize themselves as visual leaner’s. His talk encourages teachers to teach without words, eliminating the language heavy material we often see in mathematics. MIND Institute has created a game to do just that, and that is the game I chose to play for this assignment. They have created a game with levels from pre K-Algebra 1 that involves a little penguin trying to get across the screen. There are various levels and tasks to be done in order to help the penguin. I played the demo that MIND Institute has on their website – it dealt with fractions. Essentially all that you do is complete the given task to help the penguin. In the fraction demo, there were a number of different levels that presented the player to adding and subtracting halves, thirds, quarters, and even fifths and sixths. I’ve included some pictures below to help illustrate the game.
 * Description**

Essentially, in one of the levels, the penguin is located on the left hand of the number line with a visual representation of a fraction. The player then is asked to estimate where the penguin will end up on the number line when the fractions are rolled out.

A lot of the learning involved was centered around mathematics and fractions. The game incorporates visual models and the number line, aligning with common core standards. Students are asked to estimate where on the number line the visual model will land. If they are wrong, they will see they are wrong right away – as the game shows the player where the right answer lies on the number line. Through playing the game, you learn that two halves equal a whole, three thirds equal a third, etc. In order to progress, the player must complete each level. As you continue to complete levels, the difficulty increases, allowing the students to learn subtraction as well.
 * Learning**

This game is unique in the sense that it relies solely on visual feedback to teach. There are no words at all within the game. When beginning a level, there is a few chances for the player to play the game without penalty (teaching within a subdomain). The game shows the player where to click along the number line so that the penguin will be picked up by the basket of balloons. By using the pointer, and allowing the player to “experiment” for a couple of times, the player then is ready to move on and complete the level. The most effective part of the game is the informative and immediate feedback. If the player chooses something wrong, it shows you why it is wrong. Similarly, if the player chooses something right, it shows you why it is right. By allowing students to manipulate and interact with math in a visual way, it allows students to understand many mysteries of math. It also eliminates the hurdle that teaching and learning with words. As stated earlier, the game provides the player with two lives each level. If the player does not complete the level within those two lives, you are asked to start the level over. The game utilizes the psychosocial moratorium principle, the practice principle, multimodal principle, subset principle, incremental principle, transfer principle, and many more. It does a great job allowing students to learn in a safe place, with little risk, while giving the player lots of feedback in a visual way.
 * Teaching**

I enjoyed this game. At first it was a little weird trying to figure it out with no words for instruction, but as I played it more and more it became more clear. It is a great way for students to be exposed to fractions in a setting outside of a typical classroom setting. As stated earlier, this game has levels for students from grades pre K through Algebra 1. This could be an excellent supplemental game for teachers to use in a district. Once exposed to this game as a young student, children will become more and more familiar with the game, which will only enhance their learning as they progress through school. My only qualm with this game is that it is different and innovative. What happens when students are asked to complete tasks with words again or asked to solve word problems on state assessments. Teachers will have to be careful to supplement this to their teaching so that students are still comfortable with traditional forms of math so they won’t have difficultly later on in their student careers.
 * Reflections**