Game Based Learning

In todays day and age getting students interested and excited about learning mathematics can be extremely challenging.  Students was to see how learning and education is real and applicable to their daily lives.  As educators we need to explore and see what kind of games exist out there, and how we can apply theses games into our curriculum, with the intent of raising student engagement and achievement.

One particular game that I have implemented into my classroom in called DimensionU.  This game is one that is similar to capture the flag.  Students can work individually or cooperatively in teams.  The teacher can select type of questions as well as the difficulty of the questions.  Players can run throughout the game world and attempt to capture an opponents flag, however there are certain doors that can only be unlocked after answering a math question.  Also there are certain special tools and weapons that a player can access or grab only after he/she has answered a mathematics question correctly.  Also when a player is shot, hit or stunned they can return to game action only after a series of mathematics questions are correctly answered.

I have noticed that incorporating this video game based tool has helped my students to become much more motivated and engaged in the classroom.  I feel as though we as teachers need to harness our students natural interests and find ways to apply them into our teaching curriculum.  Students are competitive by nature and by allowing them to channel that competition in constructive ways, we can enrich their educational experiences and skill sets.  Students can also gain important team building skills by working together with teammates to accomplish their mission goals,  and ultimately improve their mathematics abilities at the same time.