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I'm not sure how I feel about this. It does get kids to learn the material and makes it fun for them by adding competition and entertainment but I'm not sure th

I'm not sure how I feel about this. It does get kids to learn the material and makes it fun for them by adding competition and entertainment but I'm not sure this is good for the long term. This is just addressing the wrong problem. These kids won't be interested in math for math's sake but are just doing to play a game - isn't it much better to get them interested in math without a need for games?

ken 18y ago
My generation was no different, only we called it Number Munchers. I'm more concerned that they're pretending to be futuristic soldiers and shooting at each other. That would not have been my first choice of game mechanic, and I'm not sure I'd want my kid spending hours a day doing that. Anyway, these look good for drills, but where's the Robot Odyssey for this generation?
hugh 18y ago
isn't it much better to get them interested in math without a need for games? The problem is: a lot of mathematics at this level is actually pretty boring but needs to be mastered anyway. The fun stuff doesn't come until late high school at the earliest, and mostly happens at the university level.
- dangoldin 18y ago
  That's true but I think the issue lies in how slowly mathematics is taught: when you spend all of elementary and middle schools repeating the same material over and over. During elementary school I used to change all the minuses to pluses on the homeworks since I didn't like subtract but I was doing basic algebra (basic polynomials) before I entered elementary school. At that point I was reading interesting math books for fun. I was able to find some math puzzle books and was slowly making my way through those.
  - hugh 18y ago
    Your experiences aren't really typical, then, and neither are my own. It's probably a mistake to extrapolate from our own childhoods to try and figure out what will work best for the vast majority of people.

ken 18y ago

My generation was no different, only we called it Number Munchers. I'm more concerned that they're pretending to be futuristic soldiers and shooting at each other. That would not have been my first choice of game mechanic, and I'm not sure I'd want my kid spending hours a day doing that. Anyway, these look good for drills, but where's the Robot Odyssey for this generation?

hugh 18y ago

isn't it much better to get them interested in math without a need for games? The problem is: a lot of mathematics at this level is actually pretty boring but needs to be mastered anyway. The fun stuff doesn't come until late high school at the earliest, and mostly happens at the university level.

dangoldin 18y ago
That's true but I think the issue lies in how slowly mathematics is taught: when you spend all of elementary and middle schools repeating the same material over and over. During elementary school I used to change all the minuses to pluses on the homeworks since I didn't like subtract but I was doing basic algebra (basic polynomials) before I entered elementary school. At that point I was reading interesting math books for fun. I was able to find some math puzzle books and was slowly making my way through those.
- hugh 18y ago
  Your experiences aren't really typical, then, and neither are my own. It's probably a mistake to extrapolate from our own childhoods to try and figure out what will work best for the vast majority of people.