Game based learning in Mathematics for School leavers

Abstract

With the increase in popularity of computer games in recent years, the idea of using computer games as an instrument in education seems worth investigating. Therefore, a series of mathematics games were developed with an intension of evaluating the effectiveness and the applicability of game based learning to design and evaluate a game based learning approach in mathematics for school leavers. FIT (Foundation in Information Technology) is a distance learning program conducted by the University of Colombo, School of Computing. In this program, “FIT 301 - Mathematics for ICT” course continuously has had a low success rate compared to other courses. Therefore, the syllabus of FIT 301 course was selected as the basis for developing games for this project.A need assessment was carried out at the beginning to identify the needs of students, course administrators and management. It was discovered that all students are accustomed to distance learning mode and are self motivated learners. They own hardware and software required to play online games together with an internet connection that can facilitate the access of the same. A very high percentage of students have played online games before. Based on the user requirements, a series of eight games were designed. Questions presented to the player were organized according to the Blooms taxonomy. Development of the series was carried out using iterative and incremental development approach in repeated cycles, completing the development of one game in each cycle. Once developed, each game was uploaded onto a website and the link was posted on the virtual learning environment allowing students to play these games. After the game play, their feedback was collected using a questionnaire. Based on the feedback, games were improved.This thesis describes the complete game development process from identifying objectives to final evaluation and possible future developments.