The A-Team Takes a Look at Learning Games

As part of their ongoing work, the Advance Team teachers have been asked to write assessments of some popular current digital learning games. Given that the teachers have an excellent grasp of what does (and doesn’t) work in their classrooms, their opinions are especially helpful as we try to understand what makes a good learning game.

Here’s a sampling of some A-Team responses to the games “Big Brain Academy” “National Math Bee,” and “Math Blasters".

Big Brain Academy 

Strengths:
"This game has very creative tasks, it focuses on strengthening multiple intelligences, and it is engaging to learners…. The game also gives constant feedback and asks the gamer to follow a specific set of instructions for each task. There is much room for practice and improvement on the skills in the game."

Weaknesses:
"Sometimes the directions were hard to understand at first, and some of the tasks were very childish and students might view them as 'babyish.'"

"Does not promote exploration - each test is what it is; there is only one right answer; no room for creativity - stays strictly within rules of mathematics; does not provide an immersive environment or seeing through another's eyes; does not use application of basic skills to a higher level situation; basic knowledge and meaning throughout game elements - not a real higher purpose in this one."

National Math Bee
Strengths:
"The biggest strength of the game is the advanced level of arithmetic concepts. It uses fractions, decimals, conversions, and all the basic arithmetic concepts…. It has a very good set of data analysis tools to assess how the children are progressing."

"The game promotes active learning of basic math skills and it is engaging. The game does allow players to develop skills and continually build because the game is based on speed and accuracy…. National Math Bee is played on line and it is free to schools."

Weaknesses:
"Only covers arithmetic, no algebra. Seems to be either very easy or very hard for students."

"The game is based on basic skills such as fraction and decimal conversions.  This content is in the 7th grade pre-algebra curriculum, however the content is still very basic."

Math Blasters
Strengths:
"This game reinforced many objectives within the math standards. It offered assistance when needed. I especially liked that the player could choose the difficulty of the question by the wager of coins. Since I am not a gamer, I don't know a lot about quality of graphics, but I know that when it comes to my students, anything that is animated keeps them interested."

"The game's puzzles are experienced in a variety of authentic ways. Sometimes there is a time limit; sometimes there is not. Sometimes you are asked to solve a word problem, and sometimes the task is more like a puzzle. Players know immediately if they were successful, and they are offered more and more help as the game effectively scaffolds players' learning experience."

Weaknesses:
"It is easy to get immersed in the quite authentic puzzles this game offers, but the game as a whole is not immersing. Rather, the tasks seem like loosely connected puzzles… each one valid and interesting in and of itself but not really a part of a cohesive or immersing whole."

"The main weakness of the game is that you are unable to start off at the level you ended at in the previous game. This does not support active learning, as you have to play the earlier levels multiple times before you can finally get to the later level of the game."

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