PLAY = MATH = PLAY
John Bamberg, a mathematician from University of Western Australia, saw a gap in how solving linear equations is taught in many classrooms today, and reached out to us to check if we could help him fix that!
Here’s the problem statement:
To solve the simple equation (x — a = b), there are 2 ways that you can solve it:
- Add “a” to both sides, (x — a + a = b + a), leading to (x = a + b)
- 2. Or, visualize moving “a” to the other side, changing its sign from “-” to “+”
Out of the two ways to think about this solution, he distinctly saw in his own introductory math class, that using (2), visualizing “moving a variable to the other side”, suddenly clicked the concept into place in the student’s mind.
Then we sat down together, and made a game about it!
In the Equations game (at equations.notabot.ai), you “port” terms from one side to another, with a changed sign, as a game mechanic that fits naturally in the game world. This makes the concept click for a student right away, and they’re able to graduate on to solving harder equations much quicker.
Another benefit that we uncovered as the students in his math class played the game, was how confidently students were able to work on equations, simply because games provide a safe space to try out ideas, and to make mistakes and recover from them, instead of feeling frozen with fear of making a mistake when trying to solve the same equation on paper!
This blew our mind, and told us we’re on the right path on our mission to bringing joy to learning by methodically augmenting learning concepts with games and experiences that provide such a safe space. A playground for learning, just a game to play, instead of a harsh testing environment that punishes mistakes, goes a long way into bringing students into the fold, and keep their love for the subject alive.
John used the game (equations.notabot.ai) in his class of 200+ students, publishing exercises to solve using the game, running workshops with students in a physical classroom competing in the game with a live leaderboard, and in so many other fun ways.
This is why we do this stuff! This is what we love about what we do.
Making games and immersive experiences to help you bring joy to your students’ learning.
Reach out to jyoti@byondreal.net if you’d love to collaborate on translating a learning topic you teach (or learn) into a fun game!
