Gaming the Classroom

Antonia Szymanski and Matthew Benus

Abstract

Math achievement among US high school students is low; the average 15-year-old US students' mathematics literacy scores places them in the bottom quarter of students worldwide. Algebra has long been recognized as a gateway course to higher education. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate teacher and student perceptions of adapting video game design principles for Algebra instruction for struggling students in an attempt to increase student engagement and achievement. The study described the experiences of a high-school remedial algebra class as it participated in an innovative instructional design pilot. The teacher and 14 struggling students described their perceptions of teaching and learning how to graph linear equations in a gaming environment.