Grade: 6th Grade |
Subject Area: Mathematics |
Assessment of Learner Achievement
![Picture](/uploads/1/1/2/7/112797993/editor/word-problem-class-average.png?1575760717)
The lesson that I taught with my web-based game was part of a five-lesson unit with a pre and post assessment. The web-based game lesson tied in with rational conversion word problems which aligned with questions 11 and 12 on the assessments. As shown in the chart, my students on average scored at about a 50% on word problems before the beginning of the unit. At the end of the unit and after spending a day playing the Dunk Tank game, they were scoring at an 80% on word problems. I think this is a significant gain in understanding and I believe that the web based game really helped my students become more confident in their solving skills. Directly after the lesson I also had my students fill out a survey based on their gaming experience. This provided me with valuable feedback on how the game helped my students' confidence level in solving word problems. The pie chart below shows that the majority of my students thought the game either boosted their confidence or set them on the right track toward successfully solving word problems.
Evaluation of Methods and Resources
The survey that I gave my students was also valuable in assessing the effectiveness of the web based game as a learning material. As you can see in the pie chart included above, the students seemed to get a lot out of playing the game. I think that it was a good review tool before the test and gave the students some practice with word problems. However, I wish that I had been able to give the students more time with the game because many of them did not actually get to the end of the game and dunk the character which was the whole goal of the game.
My only complaint about using the Dunk Tank game was that it did not collect student data so I was not able to actually see the students' achievement. I know that there are other games that do a better job with collecting data, but I liked that this Dunk Tank game was very specific to the content that I wanted to teach. Games like Prodigy that is used in many schools cover a wide array of math material based on individual student needs. While I think these games are valuable for enrichment, they are not best suited to integration into a focused lesson.
My only complaint about using the Dunk Tank game was that it did not collect student data so I was not able to actually see the students' achievement. I know that there are other games that do a better job with collecting data, but I liked that this Dunk Tank game was very specific to the content that I wanted to teach. Games like Prodigy that is used in many schools cover a wide array of math material based on individual student needs. While I think these games are valuable for enrichment, they are not best suited to integration into a focused lesson.
Revisions
As stated above, many of my students did not actually get to the end of the game because we ran out of instructional time. If I were to teach this lesson again, I would spend a day on the word problem worksheet and then a seperate day just to play the Dunk Tank game. I would probably have to be prepared with some early finisher work, but I think it would be more encouraging for students to get the reward at the end after playing. I could also see this game working as a whole group activity while I pulled small groups for remedial help. Using it in this way would help with the early finishers since they would spend part of their time working with me.
The only other change that I would make would be to somehow figure out to track student achievement. This could be done by having the students record their answers to the question and marking if they got the answer correct. The only foreseeable issue with that plan would be if students did not answer honestly or forgot to record their answers to some questions.
The only other change that I would make would be to somehow figure out to track student achievement. This could be done by having the students record their answers to the question and marking if they got the answer correct. The only foreseeable issue with that plan would be if students did not answer honestly or forgot to record their answers to some questions.