Gameing as an education tool - Coursework Example

Gaming as an Educational Tool: The Use of Games in room Teaching A Review of Research Results by Riconscente in “Resultsfrom a Controlled Study of the iPad Fractions Game Motion Math” Young learners often struggle with math learning. However, iPads allow the use of simple but effective tools for improving the ability of these learners to easily understand relatively difficult topics (Spencer, 2013). The study by Riconscente (2013) used an experimental repeated measures crossover design to investigate the rate of improvement that the iPad app Motion Math had on fourth graders’ ability to learn fractions.

It also investigated whether students’ reported self-efficacy, fraction liking and fraction knowledge had improved over the study period, and explored how the learners rated the app at the end of the study period. The results compared the findings obtained from analyzing data obtained from fourth-grade learners in two schools. Motion Math is designed to take the learner through three basic levels of fraction learning, with each level further subdivided into 24 sublevels. The levels represent the increasing difficulty of the game, and requires continuous attention to detail.

Tests for differences in fraction knowledge for learners in the two schools (with one group in each school being introduced to Motion Math, and schools labeled A and B for ethical reasons) showed specific similarity in results. The layout involved creating two groups of students and comparing how they performed over three sets of tests (pre-test, mid-test, and post-test) administered before introducing the devices, in the middle of the week, and at the end of the week 9which also marked the end of the study period).

The group that was introduced to Motion Math performed significantly better at the mid-test compared to the pre-test while the group that was not introduced to the app performed significantly better at the post-test than in the mid-test. For the Motion-Math group in each school, the results did not show significant improvement between the mid-test and posttest. On the other hand, the group that was not introduced to the app performed significantly better at the posttest than in the mid-test but did not have significant improvement in results between the pretest and the mid-test.

There were short-term gains in using the app for teaching but both groups (the group that was introduced to the app and the one that was not) tended to have similar performances in the long-run. The two groups had different test trajectories motivated by the use of lack of use of the Motion Math app. The results for self-efficacy, self-ratings on fraction knowledge and fraction liking followed a similar trend as the performances, with the mid-test scores differing for the control and experimental groups at the mid-test but showing no significant difference at the pre-test and post-test with no overall difference for the three items.

The results from both schools showed that the Motion-Math groups had significant improvement in self-efficacy, self-rating and perceived fraction-knowledge scores between the pretest and mid-test, but did not have significant improvement between the mid-test and the posttest for the three ratings. By contrast, the groups that were not introduced to the app did not have significant improvement on self-reported “self-efficacy”, “self-rating”, and “fraction knowledge” scores. However, the groups had significant improvement for the three ratings between the mid-test and post-test exams.

Students rated the app highly, overwhelmingly (95%) agreeing that it helped them learn fractions.ReferencesRiconscente, M. M. (2013). Results from a controlled study of the iPad fractions game Motion Math. Games and Culture. 8(4): 186-214.Spencer, P. (2013). IPads: Improving numeracy learning in the early years. Retrieved from www.merga.net.au/documents/Spencer_MERGA36-2013.pdf. (accessed 15th Jan 2015).