The Future of Education
Game-based Learning: Fearless Mathematics
Melissa Esposito, Iti “Medi”, San Giorgio a Cremano (Naples) (Italy)
Abstract
Why does everyone like to play?
● It is part of human nature
● It is fun and engaging. Thanks to the game our brain produces endorphins, which make us feel good.
● It is exciting: the game causes a storm of emotions.
● It allows you to socialize.
● It is strategy, it is reasoning, it is creativity.
Game-based learning is a teaching strategy that uses the game to convey a specific content or to achieve a specific learning objective. Through the game the student acquires, reinforces and enriches his knowledge. By playing, students learn the content that is the object of the game. Game-based teaching can therefore use the contents of mathematics making them stimulating and fun. We want to use the game to provoke immediate learning and have a fearless approach to mathematics.
Several studies show that the use of GBL leads to greater involvement and higher motivation of students. The latter perceive learning as deeper and more lasting, develop more transversal skills, or soft skills, such as problem solving, time management and collaboration. For this reason, GBL is an innovative but above all very valid teaching approach. It is one of the promising methods to obtain the active participation of students in learning activities. Mathematics is a subject very often feared by most, therefore an approach to it through digital GBL, with the use of different digital tools, makes it more captivating, lessons become engaging, students become passionate and see mistakes as a moment of growth. GBL encourages active learning and commitment by offering students the opportunity to place problem solving in the context of the game.
From a pedagogical point of view, in fact, the idea of games as an educational tool is not new, it was originally conceived by the Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle. In more recent history, game-based education has been part of the educational theories of important figures in this scientific area, such as Comenius, Pestalozzi, Fröbel, Spencer, Montessori, Piaget and Vygotsky.
Keywords: Game-based learning, soft skills, mathematics
