Game-Based Learning – the hot new thing (TM), or a necessary evil?

Most undergraduate studies in teaching end with visiting a school and giving several lectures, the last of them being for a grade. Thus, students really don’t like to risk.

What happens when you do something different?

LEGO story!
LEGO in school!
Caption: “This was the best math lesson / Thank You”

About the school and the students

Sofia University sent me to a “normal” school for the Math internship. I had the pleasure to work with students from grades 5-7, however this lesson was performed with grade 7.

I really have to thank the teacher who helped me with this, Mrs. Lyudmila Dimova, who is… even crazier than me :)

Triangle Inequality

What do we need to know about the triangle inequality?

How could we tell the students this could have any use in real life? Could they get to define the inequality by themselves? We talk about flowers and traffic lights!

Flowers Traffic lights
Shortest way to cross a flower patch Shortest way to cross the street

Now we have a use for this, we can find the shortest path. The physical example is a LEGO plane (Imperial Shuttle) going through the crossroad… so we found a reason to bring toys in school! And rubber ducks are pedestrians!

If △ABC\triangle{ABC} exists, then a+b>c, b+c>a, c+a>ba + b > c,\, b + c > a,\, c + a > b.

Triangles
The standard example showing the Triangle inequality, demonstrating when a triangle stops existing

Now we have a standard maths lesson, nothing that outlandish – some theory, some exercises, some homework.

You can check the full lesson plan (in Bulgarian).

The risk and the rewards

Doing things like this is a double-edged sword. You always need to have plan B… and C… and D… Losing the students’ respect is always easier than earning it, and making a mistake may mean no further lessons will be productive.

You also really have to manage time well, as this can quickly get out of hand. From the 90 minute lesson, I only used the first 5-10 minutes for the LEGO demo, gave the students 2-3 more minutes to calm down, and then we started the “standard” lesson.