I guess I should start
with what has happened up to this point on my journey of creating a learning
game for Algebra, so here it goes.
I was a secondary math teacher frustrated by a lack of
resources; either I couldn't find them, or I couldn't afford them. This need
made me want to create what I was missing and was the impetus for me to seek my
doctoral degree. I started analyzing what resources I wanted and needed to help
my students (and other's students) more successfully apply the mathematical
concepts. During this time important math practices were being recognized as
vital requirements, and complex problem scenarios with short answer and essay
questions were becoming a focus for assessment. While these advances are great
for deep learning, traditional math curricula focus on teaching and memorizing
algorithms. Math educators need resources to teach these higher-order thinking
skills.
Enter game-based learning. An idea began to
form in my mind about a game where students could play with algebra. I game to bridge
the gap between algorithm and application and build conceptual
understanding. And I will call it, Function Fighters!
I
began the early phases of planning the learning game. In an unconventional
decision, I decided to start with one of the middle game levels instead of the
beginning. I decided to start with a level on systems of linear equations. As a
teacher, my algebra students always struggled with the application problems in this
unit, regardless of the teaching strategy I employed. It was this
struggle that first sparked the idea of Function Fighters, so to me, it seemed
a natural place to start. There are also many interesting application settings
to draw from in this unit. Below is an image of some of my first notes about
the interface and gameplay mode.
This was over a year ago. Once I started taking steps to actual design and develop the game, I reached out to a colleague in math education. We had several meetings over the course of the year to discuss the game and how to incorporate the math and make it relevant to gameplay. We discussed how to create interesting problems to solve. Throughout the last year, I have developed the opening puzzle to the level and gone through several iterations of the main level's structure, narrative, and learning instances. Below are images showing my initial thoughts on the game level design.
I am still working on the level design. And while much of the structure you see in the images above still remains, most of the details have changed. It has been my experience so far, that learning game design is an iterative process. To get it right, to balance the fun and learning, maintain engagement and create flow, is rarely achieved on the first try; but worth the time and effort to get it right.
So, join me on this journey of designing Function Fighters. I think it is going to be quite an adventure!
