{"title":"Zones of mathematical play","authors":"Caro Williams-Pierce, Jordan Thevenow-Harrison","doi":"10.1080/10508406.2021.1913167","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Most research on mathematical play and learning is focused on early childhood. This study examines how mathematical play and learning manifest in older children in a mathematical videogame designed by the first author, Rolly’s Adventure. We examined how players experienced mathematical play as they played Rolly’s Adventure, with a particular focus on failure paired with feedback. We used video and audio recordings of the players and their bodies, and screen capture of their gameplay. Spoken language, physical gestures, and digital actions were our primary sources of identifying, understanding, and triangulating mathematical play. We found that players pass through five zones of mathematical play that build upon each other and closely interrelate, and that these zones each involve different types of failure, feedback, and learning experiences. This paper provides a productive definition of mathematical play, introduces a framework that describes players’ mathematical play experiences, and presents five design principles that can be leveraged to support mathematical play.","PeriodicalId":48043,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Learning Sciences","volume":"58 1","pages":"509 - 527"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2021-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of the Learning Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2021.1913167","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
ABSTRACT Most research on mathematical play and learning is focused on early childhood. This study examines how mathematical play and learning manifest in older children in a mathematical videogame designed by the first author, Rolly’s Adventure. We examined how players experienced mathematical play as they played Rolly’s Adventure, with a particular focus on failure paired with feedback. We used video and audio recordings of the players and their bodies, and screen capture of their gameplay. Spoken language, physical gestures, and digital actions were our primary sources of identifying, understanding, and triangulating mathematical play. We found that players pass through five zones of mathematical play that build upon each other and closely interrelate, and that these zones each involve different types of failure, feedback, and learning experiences. This paper provides a productive definition of mathematical play, introduces a framework that describes players’ mathematical play experiences, and presents five design principles that can be leveraged to support mathematical play.
期刊介绍:
Journal of the Learning Sciences (JLS) is one of the two official journals of the International Society of the Learning Sciences ( www.isls.org). JLS provides a multidisciplinary forum for research on education and learning that informs theories of how people learn and the design of learning environments. It publishes research that elucidates processes of learning, and the ways in which technologies, instructional practices, and learning environments can be designed to support learning in different contexts. JLS articles draw on theoretical frameworks from such diverse fields as cognitive science, sociocultural theory, educational psychology, computer science, and anthropology. Submissions are not limited to any particular research method, but must be based on rigorous analyses that present new insights into how people learn and/or how learning can be supported and enhanced. Successful submissions should position their argument within extant literature in the learning sciences. They should reflect the core practices and foci that have defined the learning sciences as a field: privileging design in methodology and pedagogy; emphasizing interdisciplinarity and methodological innovation; grounding research in real-world contexts; answering questions about learning process and mechanism, alongside outcomes; pursuing technological and pedagogical innovation; and maintaining a strong connection between research and practice.