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Euclid Would Have Taught Math This Way servation A; Schoolchildren inthe United States (and several Western ropean countries) are consistently outperformed in international comp on tests of mathematical abil: Teachers complain that many students appear ‘terested in che subject and are unmotivated to make the effort necessary to progessin developing computational skis, problem solving ability or an under Handing of basi mattematical concept “They simply do ot seon wii inthe efor wo lean some sls that could be of real use thelr dul ives san fe heard remark, ‘Observation The vast monty of sehoolldren in the Ute States and those same countries-97%acordingto the Pew survey—spend many houtscach ‘vec playing video games, (Soto do aver 50% of ads, according to Pe, bt hy present focus so schoolchildren) During the course of hat game py they may aequirea vast amount of knowledge about the imaginary world portrayed in ‘he game they wil often practice ask many times unl they are fluent int and ‘hey wl perform a particular ction (suchas manufacturing an artlat or Kling, 2 particular kind of beast repeatedly inorder to complete a quest and thereby Advance nthe game, you were putin eharge of reorganizing education to solve the problems highlighted in Observation A, what would you do? M you dont immediately ‘onnest Observations A an B, ad think, “Use video ame technogy tach tase School mathematics” then you probably have not payed any g ames, and you almost certainly have 9 wily inaccurate conception OF what the best and most popular of those games involve In this book, Lam tying to convince you that the slution to the problem of Uunsuecesfal and unmotated students of mathematics i to make extensive fu yes, | mean etensive—use of video gates in mathematics ection. In fact, Lam going to claim much more than tht, Video gates are i just ay of resolving 2 current crisis in matheraties education. Nor does their se In mathematics education amount. “sling the subject shor “dumblog dower the mate or “pandering othe latest technology eee” Rather: fra whole range of reasons | enumerated in Chapter 2, immersive vrtual words are ia fat the deat madi for davalping baie mathrmatical sills and understanding and vile games are an ideal way to make useoF thse environments tobe students earn mathematics Just asthe sventon of he printing press inthe Hieenth century made i posible fr everyone to acquit basc Mercy, so tao future generations wil re ‘ognize the development of video game technology the sry twenty is en tury asthe time when a technology appeared that enabled everyone to aire basic mathematical ably. Real that by “everyday math” or “everyday mathe small ability I mean n general. the matheraties tha is aught-or should be 2nd i supposed tobe taught—in the elementary and mile grades of schools to uldrenS through 14 years ol. Thsincuses basic number concepts arithmetic arithmetical relationships, multiplicative and proportional reasoning, numerical ‘timation, elementary plane geometry basic coordinate geometry, elementary ‘choo! algebra, quantitative reasoning, basi probability and statistical tuning, ‘gia thinking algorithm use, problem formation (aadeling), problem solving snd sound calculator us, (Fr reasons wil make dear ltr believe that video ‘ame technology is completely unsuited to teaching more advanced mathemat. {though i an pay signet roe n education at that lve. My present ‘cuss exclusively on everyday math) | would note that you have managed to getalong in ie wel enough without nsstery of this everyday math then that may simply elec other strengths you av, but in the future faced by todays children everyday maths gong tobe even ‘ore important fr good zeny than ts today New Approach have already emphasized tha Ws wot enough to ead about vdeo games. They ust be experienced. That's seh Hep urging yout gu ot and get a good video same (eg my favorite game, World of Warera) and play it. One ofthe most lute essons to ear or tase af us who were succes leating primary Jnrouph books and lectures fs that games ar all about experience; they can be nderstond only by playing them. Good video games present the player witha considerable intellectual challenge nhe true sense ofthe word they arallabout i Wout ave Taught Math Tis oy @ earings just thatthe learning proces involved in paying. good videogame floes not resemble what we traditionally think af as “education” Using games to teach mathematics sot about combing longstanding pedagogy’ of mathematics ‘suction with ganetechnology is about using games to teach mathematic in “nentiely diferent way. Admitted, otal parts of elrmetary mathematics end Themselves naturally to learning i a game environment and more advanced [pets ofthe subject defintely do aot. But most of the mathemati typically Taught in grades one through eight ca, belive belearned faster and beter with ‘heal ofa propary constrict gama than hy re traditional methods 1 lao that using vdeo games he way Euclid would have taught basic ‘mathematics had that technology been around in ancient Greece. This snot to Shy he would nothave writen Elements forthe benefit ofmy nongamer readers, fahould observe that many vale games incorporate lots of on-sereen test thal the player must read to progress an rapid advancement in many’ games requires the player to read pages af printed supplementary material as wall. suspect that Euclid’ video game wot! have been no exception Good video yames do hot replace reading they supplement, and often depend an K.And they don't replace the teacher either: Rather they add fourth eg the existing educational ‘support stool of teacher textbook, and family and friends. IMy remarks above were directed primanly at teachers and parents my principal readers ut in writing dis book Ihavea second audience in mind the {amers themselves, or whom this book might at asa hook to draw them into the concept of video games as an educational medium, I you area school-aged ‘ner, then unless you have somehow manages to survive your matheraties Education so far to the point where you havea fairly good understanding of tehat mathematics realy i, you will not be able to appreciate my elim that ‘ideo games are the perfect medium to tach mathematics. “Oh no, theyre Bo ing to make me play 3 video game where Ihave to keep stopping to solve math problems you probably think. What 2 drag” Well, actually, | aor gong to pro pose that you play games that involve solving math problens but that doesn't {ean anything like what you think it does and you certainly won't have t stop playing the game todo the math This is where the kinds of game {have been Investigating differ dramatically um te rather dismal current crop of math ed ideo games on the market. “Te fact so mater how many hours you've spent playing games—and ‘venifyou've had some experience with vdeo game that aims to teach math— {you have not experienced a ame that has been constructed to teach mathematics the way mathematics shoul be taught. You won't have done that forthe simple reason that there areas yetno such games. Developing tem in particular getting them right is going t tke some te, The few “math games” avallable tay come nowhere lose to achieving the potential thatthe medium offers. Once god * Chapter ¢ ‘math games have been developed, however, they wil change fundamentally the popular conception af what mathematics ar my gamer audience thet, shall In the pages that follow try to explain the nature of mathetatics in a way that | hope makes clear why baste mathematics and videogames were made fr each ‘other Converse twill become cea how and why much ofthe ifiuly many people have learning mathematics stems ot from ac inate ability but rom ‘he unsuited and theretore grossly inadequate means we have historically had at ‘ur disposal to tach mathematics (see Chapter 3). Directing my attention back to mathematics teachers let me ome it out snd sayitas se In my opinion, the time snot ery le away when anyone it the busines of teaching mathematis at schoo level will ave prolesionl duty tw become familiar with video games Not odo s wil son be akin to trying to {cach English without beng able to read. Besides explaining why tis the case. ‘wl as spend alot of time in ths book showing yu how you wil beable to use ideo games to hep student learn mathematics. True, we are not there yt the ‘current generation of games stil focusing on the lw hanging basi sil frat ‘ur that wil change, and when that change nally comes wl be sigaliant Admit im eaking a positive view that wil happen. {do however. se 4 danger that with so many skils-oeused games now being produced, there may bea backlash against any use of videogames when the cureat crop of games is Found to make lite difference tothe development of real mathematical thinking aswillsurey happen nly a third audience havin min or his hook comprises professional ume developers who want to try their hand ata mathematics related video gate Akhough Iam myself nota game develope, | have learned alot about the game ‘evelopment process over the past Seven year, and have talked at length with some very god game designers As result, ave a perspective to provide you, the yame develope, with knowledge and insights into mathematics and math ‘mates uation to hep you bil etter math-related games shoul you deide to yentuee int tha eritory. Ther is good reason to ty The edi wide ope oF 00d games tht go beyond base sills and develop mathematical hiking Just be prepared fora long and challenging development process The rewards willbe sect but theres probably no sorte to et there IF game development rouls continue to improve at thet present rat, won't be to log before al ofthe audiences I just mentioned start to overlap, With teachers, students and parents all designing if ot complete games, then ‘mathematical activites to embed in off-the-shelf educational game platforms ‘The same has already happened with vdeo production, of course, with may teachers and students now creating and eiting videos ether witha camera oF drawing 00 For ths reason, some of my discussions wil be diected ans ether to bull’ math ed videogame or to design a mathemati actity embed in a game someon else i developing, For readers who hive suck tenon those discussions will ammount wo observations about curricular: and ‘edagoy:Inpartlela believe alongwithGee,thatweteichers have alot toleae mwhat makes a good videogame work. Whatever perspective an experience se bring to the design and use of wileo games in mathematics eduction, a hey {isincion we nee to understand is between tual Kuowledge and knowing Saw to do something Knowing How versus Knowing That ven have to adit thatthe tile ofthis chapters pretty audacious Woul! Each ‘eal have taught math using video gnes? This Buc for heavens sake- One ot ‘he plas of human mathematical development Let me explain. It comes dawn "athe questions "Whats earning?” and "Whats the purpose oflearaiag” Tt set ‘hescene for my answer by describing two people to You. ‘lista MacIntyre has spent most of his adult ie as a paramedic working ‘or a large oll company in Saud Arabia. Inthe remote desert region where he is asd he provides the ony regular medial service fr thousands of square mls, snd routinely finds himself having dgnose illnesses an to performemvergency ‘gery, aa result of which he has become highly skilled 3 both Roger Palmer an insurance assessor, but fm eatly clldhond he has atv wanted to bea ctor In his spare time, he reads every medial testbook ie can lay hishands on, Blessed with nt excelent memory, bythe te he wasn is mi-thirties his medical knowledge was prodigious. Ofcourse since he does at possess a medical qualification he hs never been able t practic ‘Suppose you ind yourself stranded on a remote sand and you become Ml er need surgery If chance were to bring one of hese to rvs to You, ‘ich would you prefer? (Both characters are ftitous by the way. though my Sounger brother its the description of Alistair) Lam prety sure hake me You woul much refer ito be Alistale. You would puta tnuch higher value on years fexperiental learning than on factal book leroing, Alistair might tk ll the medal terminology: bul ver the years of actually practicing mein, he tas developed great ski as « medical practioner, He could recognize vatious Symptoms and know what w do. Rogers knowledge, on the other aa sl theoreti OF couse, would be even beter to have both present Tohave liste sou, but ave him talk over your symptoms with Roger And in practi his Is ore or less what we get owhen we vst a rel medical practitioner T becom ‘lied to practice medkeine, an individual fist has to take many courses 3nd 2 chapters iss barrage of examinations, galning Rogr-type knowlege, and thet hast Spend several years a an itera under supervision, acquiring experienc onthe Fob ike Alistair ‘he purpose of thse iil years of classroom learning that aedical stents undergo st accelerate dramatialy the ent of time i takes to reach, anadequate level of ability o practice medicine Without that concentrated burst ‘of heoretcal knowledge acquisition inthe Beginning, t woud take many years Dractce, working alongside an expert to aceve a sini level of ability. Thats iy we do na ain doctors by an apprenticeship sytem, lke the craftsmen of od would take toofong Butnotice that the acquisition o heretical knowiedge hete i a means to an end, not the end isl Knowing medial facts certainly Important for a doctor, but i the end what we look for when we sek meal assistance that the doctor does something or us Ulimately what simporant Isknowing hw odo hings, not merely koowing fasts ‘And the same Is tue for any form of ediation. The purpose of learning» foreign language isnot to accumulate a body af ats about that language, to beable to understand 10 read Hand to speak tm order to communicate with ‘others or ole ina foreign country. The purpose of studying achtectaref to ‘design buildings or other spaces for ing, The purpose of learning physics isto be able to do physis. And the purpose in larsing mathematics i tobe ele to ‘do mathematies Mathematics is primally about doing ot known This noc twsay that a person who studs architectural design ov plysis or mathemati has to go on to be a professional architect, physi or mathematclan. The bites acquire from that learning can be ust in many diftent professions ad circumstances, sometimes indirect. But even if te only tangle beni {com taking course in arehitecture is that you become more aware ofthe spaces you lve and work in that is of value to you, Yu are a diferent person ate you ompletethecourse than you were beforehand Takingthe course has transformed you, and you se fe deren. Bu the transformation fsa result not of your having earned some new fets but because yo have eared to lok at the word ‘ferent and wo thinka diferent way That what education is about. "am belaboring this point because many people seem to lse sight ofthe Durpose of education, seeing I as a process where you spend time acquiring facts, at the end of which you take ates o $e how any of those fats you have ‘etaled | al his the “lng a bucket” fallacy, which ses edation asa process of acquiring «certain amount of educational content. Five ctl this erm, Ave next term, sc the nex and so on. Give the student testo make sue that the buckets easonably fll ater ea cours, and send him or her on tothe next. Does this sound fiir? it should t's what most of aur current formal School ecational system oks like. Is hardly surprising then that many people ‘ink hat is wt education isl about Why have we allowed to et ke that? ‘el forall its als the current system does have varous things ing fori 1. itcam be packaged and offered in a standacdied, neatly organized lst Jon to many students, yar afer year 2 iisrelatvely easy to measure the performance ofboth the instructors and the student (as bucket ilers and buckets respectively} "ai tain standards asthe politicians keep insisting 43. It does~arat leat cay if done well—provide an ellicent means of ‘quiring and measuring factual knowledge and of acquitn and meas Ing ecrtain mechanical sls (.sals no esuiring foto ateletal floret cary ot) siloftheseare significant factors both from the perspectieo sacety ante: onal The common mistake isto think that ite 3 fs the goa that educsion bs shout the acquisition of fetal knowledge and mechanical sil is Hat "come tothe question of mechanial sis in ue course, For now, 1 10 focus onthe acquisition of knowledge asa possible outcome aflerning ther in mathematics or in any other discipline. The acquisition of factual ‘rowledge—of knowing char—is merely a way of speeding up and making ‘ore universally available the all important life transformative, knowing he Whether the acguired knowing how Is related ta a cateer ofa profession is srelevant a5 far asthe purpose of learning is concerned. am Hot us thinking bout vocational taniighere Rather my Torus te education and learning in the "nos general sense It could be earning to pant pliy a sical strument, be a ‘elevsion talkshow host, bean actor, to hae greater appreciation ofthe tural ‘orld o even justo fel mare confident that you could do something you had ‘o-whatever that may be Human fe isa sequence of doings-of ations performed. As a species, we somo sapiens have evaved various capacles and stateles that ensire ou sur ‘val he most characteristic of which beng ou language fc and a abilities ‘© modify our actions based on reflection about past evets, to anticipate ikure eventual, to plan future actons both niviilly and with thers an tocol laborate. Each ofthese fundamental species survival capcties is enhanced by learning In shor learning enables ust do certain things beter. Tht ulate ‘shat earningisabout Ils why (viewed retrospectively evolution has resulted snourhaving the capacity to lear. In terms of evolution and species survival, knowing fats is no in an of 'slfimportant Knowing fatsissigileat only insofar the knowledge of hase fets enables us todo cetain things beter Alte al, books contin many it, bk 2 book cannot do anything. Humans an know facts and cam do things. We can ‘know something and wecan know how te da something. OF he evo, knowing how ‘shat really matters tous InpassingLnotethatthearstocraticpilosophersofancient Greece elevated knowledge of fets io a atllectual stats symbol. Regretably in certain alls ‘of academia and in some sections of sore vestiges ofthat ancient culture stil survive to this day with people aking pride n seeking and possessing useless factual knowledge fr its own sake it apart from the entertainment value that factual knowledge may aller, knowing how s what realy counts And the Greek Toudly proclaimed as useless knowledge I wasto show off to ther philosopher collegues in philosophical debate and to demonstrate to anyone who cared— ‘themselves for thems part—that they were diferent rom the ordinary folkand able to purse knowledge prey forts own sake. This snot meant sa rites, ‘an avanced society gains considerable value from having such indviduae round, ‘To get back on rack krowingdhatisimportant only because ican elpusto ‘now ha society that focused ently on knowing tha and paid no attention to thedevelopment of knosrng hw would quickly deteriorate, The ancent Greck scety lasted a long ast dd because Ih a lage artisan cass that knew how ‘odo things Consequenti the development of knowing how shouldbe the focus of education Il stress again that this does nat mean thatthe acquisition of fact -nowledge should not be part of learning Sometimes you ned silent fact ‘knowledge inorder to know how to do something, Moreover Knowing fats both Isanefictent shortcut to knowing how and ean be of great help in extending yur owing how abies When we sharpen the focus from learning in gener to learning sath ‘mates, the distinction between knowing that and knowing how becomes pa ‘ularly dramatic Mathematics almost entiey about doing interme of fatal content, the discipline hardly messures onthe sae. Euclid knew that If he had had access toa more ecient medium for teaching students howto do mathermat: ics than the textbook, he would surely have used st Flements wold then have heen at mosta supplement ta videw gum, Hence the tite ofthe chapter Ree What Is “Doing Mathematics” Anyway? might seem alte od to rae this question five chapters int a book wn mathematics education. Ate al dst everyone know what dlng math 1s? Wel, people generally think they know, but when you ask therm, 35 have on many occasions, you find that many don really Kno, and a those that give definite answer, those answers olen ier from one another ann any’ anes ile fom the answer eypicaly ven by professional mathematicians hike ne. So before get into more specific etal of how video games canbe used to enhance mathematics education, we need to make sre we areal onthe same page out ‘ohat we are tying to achieve How Much Math Is There to Learn? "have already mae the case that mathematics eduction should be primarily geared toward dng as opposed to knowing-thit is about acquiring knowing ow rather han knowing thot. The amount of water oko sextrmely smal Take any term-long mathematics course from elementary col through the end highschool and you can write onasingle posteardalothe key fartscoverd. fac the same itracright up through the end ofthe freshman year "now that fom fst-hand experience Iwas highschool student and then a university mathematis major during, the 1960s. In dhose days, very course culminated Ins major performance exam, ad those examinations had tobe take without any reference materials, which meant that the examinee had to kaow by heart al of the definitions, facts and Forms. A typical exam question back then began by asking the student to write

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