Review of proposal: "Ambient Algebra"
Proposal author:
Brandon Lites
(blog: http://blitescs460.blogspot.com)
Reviewer: James Vickers (jvick3@unm.edu)
Proposal restatement
The proposal is to
make a set of mini-games which teach college students algebra concepts when
played. The project seeks to address
high failure rates in college math courses and low proficiency of
students. The games will be accessible
online and the site will track user progress and provide facilities for
leaderboards and achievements for players.
Reviewer reaction
As a former math tutor at CAPS, I know first-hand many
of the problems this article discusses.
Many students are not motivated to learn math early on. They actually can get quite interested if the
topics are presented to them in more relevant ways. I think educational games are a good way to
do this, if they can be made appealing enough for college-age students. I, like many others, have learned skills from
games. I learned to type at a young age
by playing educational typing games.
Quantitative scores
Format: 4
Overall, the format is good. I would consider trimming down the previous
work section. Some of the information
included there does not appear relevant to the proposal. The budget and timelines could be nicer (the
budget should probably be in a spreadsheet or table rather than the way it's
displayed).
Writing: 4
The writing style is clear and concise, but the paper
needs a proofread and polish - some sentences are missing words or have the
wrong word if you read them aloud.
Goals and tasks: 4
The timeline lists each member for 3.5 hours for the
first two weeks, but at least 10.5 hours per person for each subsequent
week. Sounds like a risky slow start to
me. Otherwise, the timeline and its
milestones seem reasonable. I like how
the timeline has a min-max range for hours worked each week.
Scope: 3
Project is stated to be a supplement to mathematics
instruction throughout the proposal.
However, at one point it is stated that "Ambient Algebra is
designed to replace a student's homework in which they solve problem after
problem". I think this single
statement may be a dangerous overreach of scope for this project. This would likely cause backlash from
universities, and it may not be best for students to practice for exams and quizzes
in a totally different format (game vs. on paper).
Plausibility: 5
Project appears perfectly feasible, and the author
clearly identifies the technologies to be used.
There is, of course, a serious challenge to be had in making a game both
fun and educational. I think this may be
amplified by the fact that the game is targeted for college-age students; I
think marketing may be a key factor in getting these students to want to play
games of this nature.
Novelty: 3
Early in the article you say that, of existing
educational math games, there are "none in which learning algebra is the
secondary motivation of playing the game" (page 2). Later, on page 4, you go on to say that
"there are websites that offer games to teach algebra". As a reader, I read the first statement as a
claim that no game websites for math
education existed (which I was skeptical of).
The second statement acknowledges the other games and explains the
differences between them and your proposal.
The main novelties of the idea are a different target audience
(college-aged instead of grade-school aged) and the use of leaderboards and
achievement tracking. It's not clear to
me if the second novelty exists elsewhere already.
Stakeholder identification: 2
Students (the main users) are identified as the major
stakeholder. The United States as a
nation is sort of an implicit stakeholder in the article, through the
discussion of its dismal test scores. I
think more should be said about some other key stakeholders, namely
universities (who may suggest the site for students or even make donations of
time/money to it) and people or groups that sponsor students (such as
scholarship foundations or parents).
Support and impact: 3
The project will charge a fee of $10 per semester for
access. The budget section of the
proposal claims that "With around 1400 students taking this course each
semester, we can assume a revenue of $14,000 dollars per semester." I find this statement way too
optimistic. You can hardly expect every
kid in a math class to buy the correct version of the textbook and a calculator
as it is. This claim also forgets that
the problem it seeks to address (high failure rate of these classes) will also
work to invalidate this projection - many students drop in the first 2-3 weeks
from a lack of motivation or self-confidence.
The pricing model suggested may or may not be appropriate, as similar
educational game websites instead collect revenue from advertising and do not
charge their users any fees.
Evidence: 4
Your motivation section (II) is SOLID. Giving stats on the failure rates of early
algebra classes at UNM and the relative scores of the nations of the world
really highlights the issue your project seeks to address. The budget could perhaps use a little more
break-down and thought. For example,
programmers are going to be paid $35 per hour (when the national average is
more like $45), and the workstation for the project manager costs twice as much
as for a team member (though it's not clear why that is).
Challenges and risks: 4
The main challenge discussed is making games that are
both fun and educational. Another one
mentioned is making sure the games are relevant to common areas of struggle for
students. The only gave this section a 4
because I think another one exists that should be mentioned: convincing
instructors to get over biases they may have about educational games so they
may recommend this one for their students.
No comments:
Post a Comment