Ko's Journey adults/GED course and study (April)
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Maria Droujkova
Feb 2, 2011, 11:38:05 AM2/2/11
to p2pu-ma...@googlegroups.com
Jennifer and I just talked about designing a study around Ko's Journey and grown-ups: http://www.kosjourney.com/
The idea is to create a grown-up study/support group around the game. The target audience is people going for their GEDs.
The game already has a bridge to standards: http://www.kosjourney.com/pages/math_content
One of the course's task (hugely useful for learners) will be to identify problems and topic areas in GED that are similar to what they learned in-game.
We also plan to do a pre- and post-test on math anxiety. There is a tool on mathematical sophistication I like, but that may be too many tests: http://ed526b.wikispaces.com/file/view/Mathematical_Sophistication.PDF
I guess the next step is to decide some basics:
Maria Droujkova
Make math your own, to make your own math.
The idea is to create a grown-up study/support group around the game. The target audience is people going for their GEDs.
The game already has a bridge to standards: http://www.kosjourney.com/pages/math_content
One of the course's task (hugely useful for learners) will be to identify problems and topic areas in GED that are similar to what they learned in-game.
We also plan to do a pre- and post-test on math anxiety. There is a tool on mathematical sophistication I like, but that may be too many tests: http://ed526b.wikispaces.com/file/view/Mathematical_Sophistication.PDF
I guess the next step is to decide some basics:
- How many people do we want?
- Where will we find them?
- How will they interact with the game (e.g. a class)?
- How many weeks will our course be?
- One-two sentences (or a few bullet points) on what people will do each week (and what we will observe)
Maria Droujkova
Make math your own, to make your own math.
Sue VanHattum
Feb 2, 2011, 12:31:42 PM2/2/11
to p2pu-ma...@googlegroups.com
Ko's Journey normally costs money. Will this class be free? If I have enough time, I'd be happy to join in the class to help the students.
Warmly,
Sue
Warmly,
Sue
Message has been deleted
Jen
Feb 5, 2011, 8:35:46 PM2/5/11
to p2pu-mathfuture
Thank you Maria for starting this discussion. To first answer Sue's
question, Imagine Education will sponsor a pilot class for adult
students that are studying for their GED. Sue, thank you for your
offer to play and help!
I am reposting Scott Laidlaw's original response to Maria's connection
for a new Natural Math member (who is an adult learner and expressed
her concerns about math) and the potential of our math game, Ko's
Journey, to support her efforts -- especially in relieving the anxiety
she feels...
-----
To our new member...Thank you being so open and sharing your
vulnerability about math. Math is a subject that causes much
emotional discord in so many people. I strongly believe that the
discomfort comes from the way math is typically taught. We are given
problems that have no relevance or meaning in our real world and
inherently know that there is no authentic purpose. So, we respond,
"When will I ever use this in my life? Why am I learning this?" Then
we develop the belief that "I am not good at math" and carry that
false notion about our selves the rest of our lives.
Natural math as Maria advocates is about the development of language
and how story is fundamental to human learning. When we experience
math in a natural way such as baking a cake with a loved one there is
fulfillment in connection, functionality, creativity and the math
makes sense! Two cups of flour to one cup of sugar - a natural,
meaningful ratio of 2:1.
When I began developing rich, story-based math games for my students
where they could role play experiences, I noticed an immediate
improvement in their engagement and comprehension resulting in
improved test scores and less emotional resistance to the subject.
Their response inspired me to take story-based games beyond the
classroom to the virtual learning environment of the Internet.
Ko's Journey is the first story I developed into an on-line math game
because of its appeal to both boys...and girls. Most math games are
exciting for boys because of the action while girls tend to relate
more to characters. Ko's Journey integrates both ways of learning.
The story begins with a young girl separated from her kin in ancient
wilderness and with the help of her grandfather's spirit discovers a
guidebook left by her elders that teaches her how to navigate her
world. Along the way she encounters different adventures such as
saving an injured wolf pup by mixing medicinal plants in certain
ratios. (See http://kosjourney.com for more information.)
Jennifer Harris, my business partner, played Ko’s Journey with her
mother who claimed for years she was bad at math. I watched her mom,
Joanne, play with hesitancy at first leaning on Jen’s support then as
she began building confidence she enjoyed trying to see if she could
figure the math on her own. Something shifted for Joanne where her
negative emotions gave way to intrigue the mathematician insider
her.
My initial thought for you is to see if we can form a small group of
people in a similar situation and set up a virtual classroom where the
group can play Ko’s Journey together. There is a chat feature to
create the communal experience and ask each other questions (peer
teach) to help solve the math. Ko’s Journey also has pre and post
tests with lessons along the way that will serve as excellent practice
tests.
If anyone else connected with the Natural Math group is interested in
participating in Maria’s idea for a case study, please write
Jenn...@imagineeducation.org and she will coordinate accordingly.
Best,
Scott
-------
We can facilitate any size group. It would be great to at least have
a minimum of 12 adult learners. My suggestion is to have them
schedule to play Ko's Journey 2-3 times a week for an hour at the same
time so they can utilize the chat feature to peer teach. My guess is
that will complete the program within 4-6 weeks. I love the idea of
pre and post questions to address the emotions related to the subject
to compliment the skills tests.
For now, we can spread the word and see if we can find people that
would like to participate! Please refer everyone to me and I will
maintain a list.
Thank you!
Jennifer
jenn...@imagineeducation.org
On Feb 2, 10:31 am, Sue VanHattum <mathanthologyedi...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> > - Where will we find them?
> > - How will they interact with the game (e.g. a class)?
> > - How many weeks will our course be?
> > - One-two sentences (or a few bullet points) on what people will do
question, Imagine Education will sponsor a pilot class for adult
students that are studying for their GED. Sue, thank you for your
offer to play and help!
I am reposting Scott Laidlaw's original response to Maria's connection
for a new Natural Math member (who is an adult learner and expressed
her concerns about math) and the potential of our math game, Ko's
Journey, to support her efforts -- especially in relieving the anxiety
she feels...
-----
To our new member...Thank you being so open and sharing your
vulnerability about math. Math is a subject that causes much
emotional discord in so many people. I strongly believe that the
discomfort comes from the way math is typically taught. We are given
problems that have no relevance or meaning in our real world and
inherently know that there is no authentic purpose. So, we respond,
"When will I ever use this in my life? Why am I learning this?" Then
we develop the belief that "I am not good at math" and carry that
false notion about our selves the rest of our lives.
Natural math as Maria advocates is about the development of language
and how story is fundamental to human learning. When we experience
math in a natural way such as baking a cake with a loved one there is
fulfillment in connection, functionality, creativity and the math
makes sense! Two cups of flour to one cup of sugar - a natural,
meaningful ratio of 2:1.
When I began developing rich, story-based math games for my students
where they could role play experiences, I noticed an immediate
improvement in their engagement and comprehension resulting in
improved test scores and less emotional resistance to the subject.
Their response inspired me to take story-based games beyond the
classroom to the virtual learning environment of the Internet.
Ko's Journey is the first story I developed into an on-line math game
because of its appeal to both boys...and girls. Most math games are
exciting for boys because of the action while girls tend to relate
more to characters. Ko's Journey integrates both ways of learning.
The story begins with a young girl separated from her kin in ancient
wilderness and with the help of her grandfather's spirit discovers a
guidebook left by her elders that teaches her how to navigate her
world. Along the way she encounters different adventures such as
saving an injured wolf pup by mixing medicinal plants in certain
ratios. (See http://kosjourney.com for more information.)
Jennifer Harris, my business partner, played Ko’s Journey with her
mother who claimed for years she was bad at math. I watched her mom,
Joanne, play with hesitancy at first leaning on Jen’s support then as
she began building confidence she enjoyed trying to see if she could
figure the math on her own. Something shifted for Joanne where her
negative emotions gave way to intrigue the mathematician insider
her.
My initial thought for you is to see if we can form a small group of
people in a similar situation and set up a virtual classroom where the
group can play Ko’s Journey together. There is a chat feature to
create the communal experience and ask each other questions (peer
teach) to help solve the math. Ko’s Journey also has pre and post
tests with lessons along the way that will serve as excellent practice
tests.
If anyone else connected with the Natural Math group is interested in
participating in Maria’s idea for a case study, please write
Jenn...@imagineeducation.org and she will coordinate accordingly.
Best,
Scott
-------
We can facilitate any size group. It would be great to at least have
a minimum of 12 adult learners. My suggestion is to have them
schedule to play Ko's Journey 2-3 times a week for an hour at the same
time so they can utilize the chat feature to peer teach. My guess is
that will complete the program within 4-6 weeks. I love the idea of
pre and post questions to address the emotions related to the subject
to compliment the skills tests.
For now, we can spread the word and see if we can find people that
would like to participate! Please refer everyone to me and I will
maintain a list.
Thank you!
Jennifer
jenn...@imagineeducation.org
On Feb 2, 10:31 am, Sue VanHattum <mathanthologyedi...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Ko's Journey normally costs money. Will this class be free? If I have enough
> time, I'd be happy to join in the class to help the students.
>
> Warmly,
> Sue
>
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 8:38 AM, Maria Droujkova <droujk...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Jennifer and I just talked about designing a study around Ko's Journey and
> > grown-ups:http://www.kosjourney.com/
>
> > The idea is to create a grown-up study/support group around the game. The
> > target audience is people going for their GEDs.
>
> > The game already has a bridge to standards:
> >http://www.kosjourney.com/pages/math_content
>
> > One of the course's task (hugely useful for learners) will be to identify
> > problems and topic areas in GED that are similar to what they learned
> > in-game.
>
> > We also plan to do a pre- and post-test on math anxiety. There is a tool on
> > mathematical sophistication I like, but that may be too many tests:
> >http://ed526b.wikispaces.com/file/view/Mathematical_Sophistication.PDF
>
> > I guess the next step is to decide some basics:
>
> > - How many people do we want?
> time, I'd be happy to join in the class to help the students.
>
> Warmly,
> Sue
>
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 8:38 AM, Maria Droujkova <droujk...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Jennifer and I just talked about designing a study around Ko's Journey and
> > grown-ups:http://www.kosjourney.com/
>
> > The idea is to create a grown-up study/support group around the game. The
> > target audience is people going for their GEDs.
>
> > The game already has a bridge to standards:
> >http://www.kosjourney.com/pages/math_content
>
> > One of the course's task (hugely useful for learners) will be to identify
> > problems and topic areas in GED that are similar to what they learned
> > in-game.
>
> > We also plan to do a pre- and post-test on math anxiety. There is a tool on
> > mathematical sophistication I like, but that may be too many tests:
> >http://ed526b.wikispaces.com/file/view/Mathematical_Sophistication.PDF
>
> > I guess the next step is to decide some basics:
>
> > - Where will we find them?
> > - How will they interact with the game (e.g. a class)?
> > - How many weeks will our course be?
> > - One-two sentences (or a few bullet points) on what people will do
Jen
Feb 5, 2011, 8:38:24 PM2/5/11
to p2pu-mathfuture
Maria,
Please remind me of your recommendation of what we need for human
subjects so that we could publish the results.
Thanks!
Jen
> > - Where will we find them?
> > - How will they interact with the game (e.g. a class)?
> > - How many weeks will our course be?
> > - One-two sentences (or a few bullet points) on what people will do
Please remind me of your recommendation of what we need for human
subjects so that we could publish the results.
Thanks!
Jen
> Ko's Journey normally costs money. Will this class be free? If I have enough
> time, I'd be happy to join in the class to help the students.
>
> Warmly,
> Sue
>
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 8:38 AM, Maria Droujkova <droujk...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Jennifer and I just talked about designing a study around Ko's Journey and
> > grown-ups:http://www.kosjourney.com/
>
> > The idea is to create a grown-up study/support group around the game. The
> > target audience is people going for their GEDs.
>
> > The game already has a bridge to standards:
> >http://www.kosjourney.com/pages/math_content
>
> > One of the course's task (hugely useful for learners) will be to identify
> > problems and topic areas in GED that are similar to what they learned
> > in-game.
>
> > We also plan to do a pre- and post-test on math anxiety. There is a tool on
> > mathematical sophistication I like, but that may be too many tests:
> >http://ed526b.wikispaces.com/file/view/Mathematical_Sophistication.PDF
>
> > I guess the next step is to decide some basics:
>
> > - How many people do we want?
> time, I'd be happy to join in the class to help the students.
>
> Warmly,
> Sue
>
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 8:38 AM, Maria Droujkova <droujk...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Jennifer and I just talked about designing a study around Ko's Journey and
> > grown-ups:http://www.kosjourney.com/
>
> > The idea is to create a grown-up study/support group around the game. The
> > target audience is people going for their GEDs.
>
> > The game already has a bridge to standards:
> >http://www.kosjourney.com/pages/math_content
>
> > One of the course's task (hugely useful for learners) will be to identify
> > problems and topic areas in GED that are similar to what they learned
> > in-game.
>
> > We also plan to do a pre- and post-test on math anxiety. There is a tool on
> > mathematical sophistication I like, but that may be too many tests:
> >http://ed526b.wikispaces.com/file/view/Mathematical_Sophistication.PDF
>
> > I guess the next step is to decide some basics:
>
> > - Where will we find them?
> > - How will they interact with the game (e.g. a class)?
> > - How many weeks will our course be?
> > - One-two sentences (or a few bullet points) on what people will do
Maria Droujkova
Feb 6, 2011, 6:05:42 AM2/6/11
to p2pu-ma...@googlegroups.com
We need the following:
- Short description of the study in lay language, explaining all the actions and time it takes. This lets participants know what they are agreeing to do. They will sign it electronically.
- An explanation of how we will make study results anonymous
- An explanation that this study is a part of normal learning processes (being a course) and as such, is exempt from the full IRB procedures
-
An explanation of where and how we will recruit, with samples of recruitment letters. This is done so people don't recruit in sensitive populations or inadvertently promise something they won't deliver.
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