Educational game themes of a fraction brick game

Abstract

A digital game of fractions has been developed to compare the sizes of fractions using learning objectives that order fractions. The context of the game is about forming staircases of fraction bricks for players to climb to the top of a tower. The fraction bricks represent sizes of fractions and are labelled with symbols of fractions. Tall bricks are used to order fractions from smallest to largest while long bricks are used to order fractions from largest to smallest. Three game themes are proposed to experience fractions from concrete to abstract: visible bricks are blocks representing sizes of fractions that can be seen; broken bricks are blocks divided in part that can be separated into visible fractions ; hidden bricks are blocks with only symbols of fractions labelled on them. The game has been tested with Year 8 students to confirm the appropriateness of the game themes for learning fractions so that the game can be improved. This study focused on the number of attempts made by students to order fractions at every level of the game. The findings confirmed that the game is increasingly challenging because the attempts increased monotonically across the game themes of visible, broken and hidden bricks. However, the attempts were not monotonically increasing across the levels within the same game themes although fractions were designed to be increasingly difficult and required more complicated strategies. This study provides a background to further investigate the learning of fractions occurring in playing the game.