Tangible math

Abstract

Educators recognize that group work and physical involvement with learning materials can greatly enhance the understanding and retention of difficult concepts. As a result, math manipulatives-such as pattern blocks and number lines-have increasingly been making their way into classrooms and children's museums. Yet without the constant guidance of a teacher, students can easily become distracted, confused, or frustrated. This paper describes how math games with tangible user interfaces can address this need. Tangible user interfaces allow the students to work together in a physical environment, while the underlying computer system provides the guidance that a teacher would. This paper discusses pedagogical principles and an approach to designing and developing games that utilize tangible technologies. A library of functions, designed specifically for tracking visual tags in math games, is presented. The paper concludes with examples of math games that have been prototyped with this library.

Lessons from Designing Geometry Learning Activities that Combine Mobile and 3D Tools

“…In these two projects students collaboratively explore and practice mathematics through interacting in both virtual and physical spaces. Instead of bringing the virtual to the physical like the above, Scarlatos [7] works from the other direction through tangible user interfaces (TUI). The project reports on how data and representation can be manipulated using alternative input devices that combine moving physical objects with computer graphics exploring tangible math [7].…”

“…Instead of bringing the virtual to the physical like the above, Scarlatos [7] works from the other direction through tangible user interfaces (TUI). The project reports on how data and representation can be manipulated using alternative input devices that combine moving physical objects with computer graphics exploring tangible math [7]. Forming a third approach, Augmented Reality (AR) can be seen as a bridge between virtual and physical objects.…”

How Mobile Technologies Are Changing the Way Children Learn

“…The participatory simulations would end in chaos if it were not for the instructors' and designers' careful orchestration of the learning activities. The same is true for physical exercise games: "Without the constant guidance of a teacher, students […] easily become distracted, confused, or frustrated" (Scarlatos, 2006).…”

An epistemological analysis of the application of an online inquiry-based program in tourism education

“…A Web-based or online learning environment entails a learning process that depends greatly on the autonomy of the learner; nevertheless, such learning has been found to easily lead students astray (Shih, Chuang, & Hwang, 2010;Van Fossen, 2004;Scarlatos, 2006;Rogers & Price, 2009;McLoughlin & Lee, 2008). Guidance and regulative support from an instructor, along with meaningful content, are of great importance and assistance in overcoming this problem (Manlove, Lazonder, & Jong de, 2009).…”