Using a Flash Games to Improve Learning in Mathematics : Differentiation

Abstract

Proficiency in Mathematics has become a critical skill for individual success and national growth due to the growing emphasis on technology in the marketplace. Despite this, there is a worrying decline in mathematics achievement among the general Malaysia student population. Among the main factors contribute towards declination is lack of motivation which blocks the opportunity to solve the misconception. To get over a misconception, a student must be intrinsically motivated to learn about the nature of the subject. in other words, the learning process should be fun, thus create the engagement towards the subject. In support to it, research has shown that learning is much more effective when the student has fun. Digital Game Based Learning (GBL) is one such novel field in the learning area that holds considerable promise for helping to engage students. It combines motivating aspects of computer games with learning. The digital games are meant to bring the fun into the learning on a natural way. It has been proven, with an adequate design, the computer games are able to motivate the children to learn. In this paper we present the preliminary results from a short term research grant's project to develop an educational, casual web based game prototype using Adobe(R) Flash Player for the mathematics subject focusing on the differentiation's rule. The findings through the usability testing that shall be conducted are expected to prove that the game has potential in improvising student understanding in that specific topic. Further development of the game and additional studies are planned to obtain more conclusive results.