Zámbó Csilla előadadása at the PME 47 conference

Board games are examined in mathematics education research from several aspects. Studies using fMRI have shown that the prefrontal and parietal cortex can be developed via board games (Newman, Hansen & Gutierrez, 2016). These two areas have an essential role in mathematical performance and the sensitive period of the development of these areas is at the age of 12-24 years (Dumontheil, 2014). Therefore, it seems plausible that board games can be used as a tool for improving the mathematical thinking of students aged 12-24.

In our investigation, we examine the possible benefits of the implementation of board games in mathematics classroom work by replacing one lesson per week with playing board games. Participants were 10th-grade students (N=170) from six schools. Members of the experimental group (N=79) played board games with either a logical or geometrical nature for 10 weeks during one lesson per week, meanwhile, members of the control group (N=91) had standard mathematics lessons. Each student wrote pre- and post-tests on logical and geometrical skills and uniform topic tests on the learning material covered during the experiment.

Our early results show that the experimental group performed at least as well on the topic tests and also on the logical tests as the control group did. Concerning geometrical skills, students in the experimental group improved significantly, while members of the control group did not improve. The rate of improvement is dependent on the school we examine. (Result obtained using Anova, F(2,95)=0.1, p=0.9, η2=0.0002.) We are continuing our ongoing analysis of the topic, with the expectation of obtaining and presenting further, more detailed results at the conference. Based on our findings, we believe that on the one hand, it is worth implementing adequate board games in mathematics lessons to improve students’ thinking; on the other hand, the topic is worth further investigation.