Computer-game-based tutoring of mathematics
Highlights
► Educational gaming as an instructional artifact to augment tutoring. ► Game-based tutoring is dynamic and multi-faceted. ► A collaborative partnership between tutors and tutees reinforces tutee reaction. ► Tutoring occurring before play or using informal language reinforces tutee reaction. ► An improvement in test performance at the pueblo school after game-based tutoring.
Introduction
The recent review of mathematics programs in secondary school (Slavin, Lake, & Groff, 2009) reports that computer-assisted instructional (CAI) programs have an overall positive effect on students' math achievement. For the past years, computer games have been proposed as a CAI tool with considerable potential in teaching mathematics in context, offering active representations of math learning materials, and boosting affect and motivation (Van Eck & Dempsey, 2002). According to Klopfer, Osterweil, and Salen (2009) and Rieber (1996), a game refers to structured or organized play that requires the player to follow a specific set of rules to attain a goal (Hogle, 1996). With simulated visualization and authentic problem-solving with instant feedback, computer games can afford a realistic framework for experimentation and situated understanding, hence can act as rich primers for active learning (Gee, 2003, Gee, 2009).
In spite of the diversity in ways of implementing computer games, computer gaming is not an isolated, stand-alone practice; instead it can or should be integrated with other instructional approaches (Klopfer et al., 2009; Gee, 2009). Adopting this observation, this study examines the potential of using computer gaming as an anchor to promote mathematics tutoring.
Tutoring remains a popular form of individualized instruction worldwide (Ritter, Barnett, Denny, & Albin, 2009). The research of math tutoring programs reports positive academic outcomes (i.e., gains in test performance, increased time on-task, improved classroom behavior, and increased school attendance) for school children, especially minority students (e.g., Britz, Dixon, & McLaughlin, 1989; Robinson, Schofield, & Steers-Wentzell, 2005; Rohrbeck, Ginsburg-Block, Fantuzzo, & Miller, 2003). However, the prior research on math tutoring also indicates that boredom, the lack of meaningful contexts for learning interactions, and hence the difficulty of maintaining heightened levels of involvement have led to diminished effects of tutoring as time goes on (Robinson et al., 2005).
To address the above issue, a potential approach is to adopt computer games as an engaging and meaningful anchor for tutoring and learning. The basic philosophy behind this approach is to view tutoring and learning as a part of child's play, so that the tutoring and learning process is analogous to explaining and understanding the rules and materials underlying a game. During this process, tutors will take the role of expert gamers who mentor and partner-play with tutees – or novice gamers – so that the latter will gradually develop expertise in solving content-related game challenges, thus developing understanding of subject-matter concepts and content-related problem-solving processes embedded in the games.
Therefore, this case study examines a computer-game-based, math tutoring program in its natural setting to address the following research questions: How was game-based tutoring performed? What meaningful patterns of tutor–learner interaction emerge from the game-based tutoring program?
Section snippets
Tutoring of mathematics
The literature on tutoring is quite diverse, covering a range of programs varying markedly in duration, tutors and tutees of different ages and ability levels, and outcomes (Robinson et al., 2005). Tutoring can involve non-professional tutors (such as volunteers, parents, or students at different grade/age level), and has been used as an economical way to deliver individualized instruction of diverse subject matters (Madsen, 2011; Ritter et al., 2009). Some tutoring programs are structured by
Sites and participants
The study used a mixed-method, descriptive case study approach (Yin, 2008) to examine the phenomenon of game-based tutoring of mathematics in school contexts. The study was conducted in two middle schools in a southwest state of the United States. One was a rural pueblo school of Native American students and the other was a low-performing urban school with a high percentage of Hispanic students. The game-based tutoring programs implemented at these two schools were the cases studied. The
Categories of tutoring and learning behaviors
The aggregated game-based tutoring and learning behaviors, with the occurrence frequency, interpretation and examples of every category, are outlined in Table 3 and further discussed in the next section.
Premises for game-based tutoring
The coding results indicated that tutors had actively assisted tutees during gaming. However, only 48% of tutoring enactments were directly mathematical instructions. Children participants reacted to tutoring differently:
Student M (male, Hispanic, low in math achievement): He persisted using the
Conclusions and discussion
In this study, game-based tutoring is dynamic and diverse in terms of its timing, initiation, content, style, and tutee reaction created. Tutors have played an active role in initiating game-based tutoring, which is consistent with the claim of previous studies that tutors led game-based tutoring processes (Baker et al., 2006; Squire et al., 2005; Topping et al., 2003). On the other hand, the study finds that when a collaborative partnership develops between tutors and tutees during gaming,
Fengfeng Ke is an assistant professor in Educational Psychology and Learning Systems at the Florida State University. Her research has focused on digital game-based learning, computer-supported collaborative learning, and instructional multimedia.
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Fengfeng Ke is an assistant professor in Educational Psychology and Learning Systems at the Florida State University. Her research has focused on digital game-based learning, computer-supported collaborative learning, and instructional multimedia.