Plan for Myles
by Myles · 12/28/2004 (12:40 am) · 5 comments
Most people can grasp a mathmatical concept; however, mathmatics, like anything else, takes practice, and thats were alot of students fall behind.
To learn mathmatics well, it requires doing a specifc operation repetitively, until the operation is second nature. Then a student can move on to another operation that is built upon the one they now know by heart.
There are a few issues that keep people from performing these repetive task in order to glue an operation firmly in thier minds.
One is that many people don't find this repetitive task to be fun, but tedious and boring. There is nothing of interest about the task itself, probably becuase it doesn't seem to relate to anything, and the only thing they seem to get out of it is a grade in school.
Second, most people get numbers and math confused, and don't understand that mathmatics are a pure typographical system that happens to be isomorphic with a geometeric number system. This gets in the way of learning mathmatics as people tend to focus on what the application would be, or try to make sense of the operation using some spacial understanding.
Third, math has a terrible reputation and stigma, of being hard, confusing, and something for smart people, and sadly many people don't give themselves credit and see themselves as being 'smart enough' for math.
Fourth, math has value distinctly of its own; however, its applications are highly valuable and translate into real world skills. The problem is that many students are taught math by learning the operation and how it relates to some application at the same time, which relates to the second problem. Not only is this confusing, but also harmful as the two tend to get linked; addition is not about quantities.
The ability to map a typographical system onto a real world system is refered to as modeling. And it is a skill of its own, which is seldom tuaght, and usually aquired by those that 'get it'.
Below are some ideas to begin piecing together how to design a game that responds to the problems mentioned.
The target audience would probably be middle school, somewhere around 4- 7 grade.
Most people can grasp a mathmatical concept; however, mathmatics, like anything else, takes practice, and thats were alot of students fall behind.
To learn mathmatics well, it requires doing a specifc operation repetitively, until the operation is second nature. Then a student can move on to another operation that is built upon the one they now know by heart.
There are a few issues that keep people from performing these repetive task in order to glue an operation firmly in thier minds.
One is that many people don't find this repetitive task to be fun, but tedious and boring. There is nothing of interest about the task itself, probably becuase it doesn't seem to relate to anything, and the only thing they seem to get out of it is a grade in school.
Second, most people get numbers and math confused, and don't understand that mathmatics are a pure typographical system that happens to be isomorphic with a geometeric number system. This gets in the way of learning mathmatics as people tend to focus on what the application would be, or try to make sense of the operation using some spacial understanding.
Third, math has a terrible reputation and stigma, of being hard, confusing, and something for smart people, and sadly many people don't give themselves credit and see themselves as being 'smart enough' for math.
Fourth, math has value distinctly of its own; however, its applications are highly valuable and translate into real world skills. The problem is that many students are taught math by learning the operation and how it relates to some application at the same time, which relates to the second problem. Not only is this confusing, but also harmful as the two tend to get linked; addition is not about quantities.
The ability to map a typographical system onto a real world system is refered to as modeling. And it is a skill of its own, which is seldom tuaght, and usually aquired by those that 'get it'.
Below are some ideas to begin piecing together how to design a game that responds to the problems mentioned.
The target audience would probably be middle school, somewhere around 4- 7 grade.
THEME:
Math, and tehcnology in general, have always been associated with MAGIC. I think this is an excellent starting point to the game design. Math and magic have always been married, and this provides an entry point for math to take the main focus of a video game, without the player/student initially realizing it.
Games themselves are genrally mathmatical models with some graphical or contextual veil to make the player think they are not doing math. The goal would be to expose more of the math and keep some of the veil.
'Magic' symbols could be employed. Math deals with typographic symbologies and has little to do with numbers, and the game likewise need not bother with typographical 'numbers'; but with Moons, stars, squares, triangles, circles etc..
GENRE:
Magic systems usually are found in two game genres; RPGs and Adventure games.
Either one could suit the goals of the game; however, an RPG might be better. As said before math is all about building upon previously learned skills. So leveling systems usually found in RPGs could act as a vehicle for mastering a mathmatical operation before moving on to an operation built upon it.
THEME:
Math, and tehcnology in general, have always been associated/confused with MAGIC. I think this is an excellent starting point to the game design. Math and magic have always been married, and this provides an entry point for math to take the main focus of a video game, without the player/student initially realizing it.
Games themselves are generally mathmatical models with some graphical or contextual veil to make the player think they are not doing math. The goal would be to expose more of the math and keep some of the veil.
'Magic' symbols could be employed. Math deals with typographic symbologies and has little to do with numbers, and the game likewise need not bother with typographical 'numbers'; but with Moons, stars, squares, triangles, flames, water drops, circles etc..
GENRE:
Magic systems usually are found in two game genres; RPGs and Adventure games.
Either one could suit the goals of the game; however, an RPG might be better. As said before math is all about building upon previously learned skills. So leveling systems usually found in RPGs could act as a vehicle for mastering a mathmatical operation before moving on to an operation built upon it.
This is not to say anything about the setting. An RPG, with Magic, does not automatically suggest a medieval backdrop. It could be modern day, something like harry potter or it could very well be medieval with dragons and all.
And of course this could also fit into any sort of puzzle type game. But them again RPGs and adventure games usually emply puzzles as plot obstacles or side games.
IMPLEMENTATIONS EXAMPLE: (one way to do the interface/game mechanics)
This is a very simple example, the game could be done a million different ways. But I think this example shows what the game might have as an objective.
The player Starts as a low level wizard apprentice, he has a spell book and a bag of magic symbols, given to him by his master.
The symbols are little stones with with some engravings.
The only symbols the player has are:
Two symbols that look like a negative sign.
Some strange symbol that looks like a flame.
In the spell book there are only three entries written: (the F and W are graphic symbols that resemble a flame and a water drop).
F = -W.
W=Liqu.
-Liqu=Flamo.
The player is instructed by his master to light the fire using magic, he is cold.
If the player clicks on one of the entries in the spell book the same symbols appear glowing, floating above him in the air. So the player clicks on the Entry 'F=-W' and sees it floating in the air.
Then he clicks on the 'W=Liqu' entry. and the Floating symbols change to 'F=-Liqu'. (every W is substituted with Liqu)
The Player then can Click on '-Liqu=Flamo', and the floating symbols change to 'F=FLAMO'. (every '-Liqu' was substituted with 'Flamo').
At this point the Foating symbols shake and glow brightly brusting into flames, and a new entry is added to the spell book; 'F=Flamo'
If the player then said the magic word 'Flamo' (typing it perhaps). Then the flame symbol in the bag would disappear and be used And the Flame Spell would be activated allowing the student to lite the fire.
This of course is with out trial and error (the trial and error can be very important), and it is a very basic example.
The Symbols in the bag have two functions. One mathatical and one game play.
Game play the symbols work as reagents. You need a symbol to cast a spell. IF the player typed in 'Flamo' and didn't have a flame symbol then the spell could not be invoked.
The mathmatical element is if the player used the Flame symbol while the equation was floating in the air then a Flame symbol would be added to both sides of the equation. If the Player used the negative symbol, then both sides of the equation would be inversed.
Same for the spells in the spell book. Aquiring spells gains access to new magic words. Using them while an equation is up does symbol substitution.
This of course is an exmple of some low level play. The system could be used to solve puzzles are engaged in combat.
This could evolve into systems of equations.
Symbols could be included that do nearly all mathmatical operations.
Wizard battles could happen were a player fights another wizard, possibly even another player) by operating on the same equation.
Any comments suggestions are welcome.
To learn mathmatics well, it requires doing a specifc operation repetitively, until the operation is second nature. Then a student can move on to another operation that is built upon the one they now know by heart.
There are a few issues that keep people from performing these repetive task in order to glue an operation firmly in thier minds.
One is that many people don't find this repetitive task to be fun, but tedious and boring. There is nothing of interest about the task itself, probably becuase it doesn't seem to relate to anything, and the only thing they seem to get out of it is a grade in school.
Second, most people get numbers and math confused, and don't understand that mathmatics are a pure typographical system that happens to be isomorphic with a geometeric number system. This gets in the way of learning mathmatics as people tend to focus on what the application would be, or try to make sense of the operation using some spacial understanding.
Third, math has a terrible reputation and stigma, of being hard, confusing, and something for smart people, and sadly many people don't give themselves credit and see themselves as being 'smart enough' for math.
Fourth, math has value distinctly of its own; however, its applications are highly valuable and translate into real world skills. The problem is that many students are taught math by learning the operation and how it relates to some application at the same time, which relates to the second problem. Not only is this confusing, but also harmful as the two tend to get linked; addition is not about quantities.
The ability to map a typographical system onto a real world system is refered to as modeling. And it is a skill of its own, which is seldom tuaght, and usually aquired by those that 'get it'.
Below are some ideas to begin piecing together how to design a game that responds to the problems mentioned.
The target audience would probably be middle school, somewhere around 4- 7 grade.
Most people can grasp a mathmatical concept; however, mathmatics, like anything else, takes practice, and thats were alot of students fall behind.
To learn mathmatics well, it requires doing a specifc operation repetitively, until the operation is second nature. Then a student can move on to another operation that is built upon the one they now know by heart.
There are a few issues that keep people from performing these repetive task in order to glue an operation firmly in thier minds.
One is that many people don't find this repetitive task to be fun, but tedious and boring. There is nothing of interest about the task itself, probably becuase it doesn't seem to relate to anything, and the only thing they seem to get out of it is a grade in school.
Second, most people get numbers and math confused, and don't understand that mathmatics are a pure typographical system that happens to be isomorphic with a geometeric number system. This gets in the way of learning mathmatics as people tend to focus on what the application would be, or try to make sense of the operation using some spacial understanding.
Third, math has a terrible reputation and stigma, of being hard, confusing, and something for smart people, and sadly many people don't give themselves credit and see themselves as being 'smart enough' for math.
Fourth, math has value distinctly of its own; however, its applications are highly valuable and translate into real world skills. The problem is that many students are taught math by learning the operation and how it relates to some application at the same time, which relates to the second problem. Not only is this confusing, but also harmful as the two tend to get linked; addition is not about quantities.
The ability to map a typographical system onto a real world system is refered to as modeling. And it is a skill of its own, which is seldom tuaght, and usually aquired by those that 'get it'.
Below are some ideas to begin piecing together how to design a game that responds to the problems mentioned.
The target audience would probably be middle school, somewhere around 4- 7 grade.
THEME:
Math, and tehcnology in general, have always been associated with MAGIC. I think this is an excellent starting point to the game design. Math and magic have always been married, and this provides an entry point for math to take the main focus of a video game, without the player/student initially realizing it.
Games themselves are genrally mathmatical models with some graphical or contextual veil to make the player think they are not doing math. The goal would be to expose more of the math and keep some of the veil.
'Magic' symbols could be employed. Math deals with typographic symbologies and has little to do with numbers, and the game likewise need not bother with typographical 'numbers'; but with Moons, stars, squares, triangles, circles etc..
GENRE:
Magic systems usually are found in two game genres; RPGs and Adventure games.
Either one could suit the goals of the game; however, an RPG might be better. As said before math is all about building upon previously learned skills. So leveling systems usually found in RPGs could act as a vehicle for mastering a mathmatical operation before moving on to an operation built upon it.
THEME:
Math, and tehcnology in general, have always been associated/confused with MAGIC. I think this is an excellent starting point to the game design. Math and magic have always been married, and this provides an entry point for math to take the main focus of a video game, without the player/student initially realizing it.
Games themselves are generally mathmatical models with some graphical or contextual veil to make the player think they are not doing math. The goal would be to expose more of the math and keep some of the veil.
'Magic' symbols could be employed. Math deals with typographic symbologies and has little to do with numbers, and the game likewise need not bother with typographical 'numbers'; but with Moons, stars, squares, triangles, flames, water drops, circles etc..
GENRE:
Magic systems usually are found in two game genres; RPGs and Adventure games.
Either one could suit the goals of the game; however, an RPG might be better. As said before math is all about building upon previously learned skills. So leveling systems usually found in RPGs could act as a vehicle for mastering a mathmatical operation before moving on to an operation built upon it.
This is not to say anything about the setting. An RPG, with Magic, does not automatically suggest a medieval backdrop. It could be modern day, something like harry potter or it could very well be medieval with dragons and all.
And of course this could also fit into any sort of puzzle type game. But them again RPGs and adventure games usually emply puzzles as plot obstacles or side games.
IMPLEMENTATIONS EXAMPLE: (one way to do the interface/game mechanics)
This is a very simple example, the game could be done a million different ways. But I think this example shows what the game might have as an objective.
The player Starts as a low level wizard apprentice, he has a spell book and a bag of magic symbols, given to him by his master.
The symbols are little stones with with some engravings.
The only symbols the player has are:
Two symbols that look like a negative sign.
Some strange symbol that looks like a flame.
In the spell book there are only three entries written: (the F and W are graphic symbols that resemble a flame and a water drop).
F = -W.
W=Liqu.
-Liqu=Flamo.
The player is instructed by his master to light the fire using magic, he is cold.
If the player clicks on one of the entries in the spell book the same symbols appear glowing, floating above him in the air. So the player clicks on the Entry 'F=-W' and sees it floating in the air.
Then he clicks on the 'W=Liqu' entry. and the Floating symbols change to 'F=-Liqu'. (every W is substituted with Liqu)
The Player then can Click on '-Liqu=Flamo', and the floating symbols change to 'F=FLAMO'. (every '-Liqu' was substituted with 'Flamo').
At this point the Foating symbols shake and glow brightly brusting into flames, and a new entry is added to the spell book; 'F=Flamo'
If the player then said the magic word 'Flamo' (typing it perhaps). Then the flame symbol in the bag would disappear and be used And the Flame Spell would be activated allowing the student to lite the fire.
This of course is with out trial and error (the trial and error can be very important), and it is a very basic example.
The Symbols in the bag have two functions. One mathatical and one game play.
Game play the symbols work as reagents. You need a symbol to cast a spell. IF the player typed in 'Flamo' and didn't have a flame symbol then the spell could not be invoked.
The mathmatical element is if the player used the Flame symbol while the equation was floating in the air then a Flame symbol would be added to both sides of the equation. If the Player used the negative symbol, then both sides of the equation would be inversed.
Same for the spells in the spell book. Aquiring spells gains access to new magic words. Using them while an equation is up does symbol substitution.
This of course is an exmple of some low level play. The system could be used to solve puzzles are engaged in combat.
This could evolve into systems of equations.
Symbols could be included that do nearly all mathmatical operations.
Wizard battles could happen were a player fights another wizard, possibly even another player) by operating on the same equation.
Any comments suggestions are welcome.
#2
I think you are making a bad assumption about how Math should be taught. I'm one of those people that were frustrated and didn't get it. Not because I didn't want to learn it, I did. It was because I didn't understand why I needed to learn it. I have never taken a Math class that teaches the purpose, only the mechanics.
I'm looking at my old linear algebra book and it's a perfect example of why students find math difficult. The first chapter is about Gaussian Jordan elimination. The first chapter should be about who uses Linear Math, what Linear math is, how you can apply it, basically answer the who, what, where, why and how that any good journalist must answer.
I remember being a freshman in high school and every kid would ask the teacher why and the answer was always because you have to. The best way to get a young adult to not do something is to tell them they have to do something.
Your idea of enforcing repetitive tasks is also problematic. It's often synonymous with busy work which breeds frustration and creates road blocks to learning like still water breeds mosquitos.
I spent half a year in Calculus learning how to derive derivatives and I couldn't tell you why I was doing it. The teacher couldn't describe it nor could any of the other students. I learned more about algebra from trigonometry and physics then I did from the algebra class. Physics put it into perspective and the easy visualization of the geometry aspect of trig made it very easy for me. Perhaps not for all but I saw my fellow students solving algebraic equations with less resistance in my physics class than I did in my algebra classes.
I would be willing to bet that most students who "get it" get the mechanics, but very few would be able to leverage it outside of the realm in which they performed their repetitive tasks.
If you want to make a game that teaches math to students then make one that teaches them why they should learn it not the mechanics. Give them examples of problems that can't be solved without applying some sort of mathematical system.
I wish I could take my classes over again with the perspective I have now, I think it would go easier.
12/28/2004 (5:32 am)
Myles,I think you are making a bad assumption about how Math should be taught. I'm one of those people that were frustrated and didn't get it. Not because I didn't want to learn it, I did. It was because I didn't understand why I needed to learn it. I have never taken a Math class that teaches the purpose, only the mechanics.
I'm looking at my old linear algebra book and it's a perfect example of why students find math difficult. The first chapter is about Gaussian Jordan elimination. The first chapter should be about who uses Linear Math, what Linear math is, how you can apply it, basically answer the who, what, where, why and how that any good journalist must answer.
I remember being a freshman in high school and every kid would ask the teacher why and the answer was always because you have to. The best way to get a young adult to not do something is to tell them they have to do something.
Your idea of enforcing repetitive tasks is also problematic. It's often synonymous with busy work which breeds frustration and creates road blocks to learning like still water breeds mosquitos.
I spent half a year in Calculus learning how to derive derivatives and I couldn't tell you why I was doing it. The teacher couldn't describe it nor could any of the other students. I learned more about algebra from trigonometry and physics then I did from the algebra class. Physics put it into perspective and the easy visualization of the geometry aspect of trig made it very easy for me. Perhaps not for all but I saw my fellow students solving algebraic equations with less resistance in my physics class than I did in my algebra classes.
I would be willing to bet that most students who "get it" get the mechanics, but very few would be able to leverage it outside of the realm in which they performed their repetitive tasks.
If you want to make a game that teaches math to students then make one that teaches them why they should learn it not the mechanics. Give them examples of problems that can't be solved without applying some sort of mathematical system.
I wish I could take my classes over again with the perspective I have now, I think it would go easier.
#3
I can still remember the lightbulb going off over my head when I figured out how the derivative of a acceleration gave the velocity, and the derivative of the velocity gave the position...and realizing in my mind that this explained the algebra behind standard position/velocity/acceleration algebra. (btw, it's been 20 years+, so don't hold my above statement to be literally correct mathematically!).
You can teach the mechanics to many, but if you can also give the enlightenment that comes with understanding why, now that would be amazing.
12/28/2004 (6:37 am)
I'll second Joe's observation about understanding why you are doing something mathematically (although all false modesty aside, math was one of my best subjects).I can still remember the lightbulb going off over my head when I figured out how the derivative of a acceleration gave the velocity, and the derivative of the velocity gave the position...and realizing in my mind that this explained the algebra behind standard position/velocity/acceleration algebra. (btw, it's been 20 years+, so don't hold my above statement to be literally correct mathematically!).
You can teach the mechanics to many, but if you can also give the enlightenment that comes with understanding why, now that would be amazing.
#4
theory and real-time practical examples i think are the trick because people say meh.. i dont need it.
if i knew what i was doing in mathematics i would of gone much better (i passed... but still).
12/28/2004 (5:49 pm)
some would see maths as useless because they just learn a crappy formula and you just apply it to a question.theory and real-time practical examples i think are the trick because people say meh.. i dont need it.
if i knew what i was doing in mathematics i would of gone much better (i passed... but still).
Torque Owner Eric Lavigne
I would recommend not going too heavy on the algebra part of the game though. However well you disguise it, that activity will still feel like math if you start the game out with it. Then the people you are targetting (students frustrated with math) will dislike your game from the start. Algebraic spells need to be one of several ingredients in the gameplay, and definitely not the first ingredient to be introduced.
In addition to not introducing it immediately, I would make the algebra part optional. The player could get by with physical combat or non-algebraic spells, but if he took the time to learn a few algebraic spells he would become that much more powerful. The skill of using his algebraic abilities on the equation that another wizard was casting would also help him out. That way the player would adjust his own exposure to your teachings depending on how much it was frustrating him.
A little side note: your plan description is repetitive. I think that every paragraph appears in more than one place. Maybe clean it up a bit?