Hi All,

Just a reminder that  you can play the game at https://tinyurl.com/linearbunny

with the username: STEMshowcase.

Welcome to the STEM showcase!  Please feel free to play the game with the link provided by Ashish and ask any questions here!

I liked that a capstone course in game design was approached to take on this project! What a great way to encourage cross-campus collaboration among students. Have you evaluated the impact of the game on students' learning of linear algebra? If so, how?

Looking forward to the discussion, thanks!

Very cool! I, too, would be interested in the answer to Sara's question--have you found that the game enhances student learning?  But I'm also  intrigued by the idea that you brought students from the CS and gaming class into a real-time experiment with lower-division math students.  Is that collaboration between the math researchers, the CS/game faculty and students something that might continue? I understand you are also looking at 3D representations--where do you think you will get the biggest bang for the buck?  in the math classes or in the CS/gaming classes?  Among the math students or the CS students? 

thanks for sharing such an interesting project!

This is a very interesting game.  I think that the use of a game in this context provides a very visual approach to understanding linear algebra.  Great job!

Addressing Nancy's question on "biggest bang for the buck": The CS capstone teams comprise of about 5 students that work on creating the game prototypes for a semester. They are intimately involved in the game and experience that the creative process provides is extremely rewarding and surely helps them get a close look at the game production process. It also provides the students an ability to draw out requirements from a third party client helping them prepare for industry jobs when they graduate. So on an individual basis, the CS capstone student is getting a "lot" compared to a student who plays the game in a linear algebra classroom. However from a project perspective a large number of linear algebra students over many semesters are going to find that having the game helps them make better connections with the concepts being taught and so the impact this will have will be long term and the number of students that will benefit will also be considerably more. 

Thank you for sharing! Including a link for us to play is a nice touch as well. I can always appreciate games that allow the players to exercise decision making problem solving abilities. You have done well to collaborate between senior programming students, game designers, and mathematics educators to create such an innovative solution. Very well done.

What features or aspects are you looking forward to most regarding the 3D game?

Hi Ivory,

We are just at the initial stages of the 3D version of the game with the current Capstone team completing the final features and bugs. We are specifically interested to see if adding another dimension to the mix improves the spatial as well and algebraic reasoning skills for the students.

Thanks for sharing this project!  I had forgotten about it since I first learned about it.  Now with the move online and redesign of all of our math courses, I'll be sure to share this with my colleagues and incorporate the game into my unit on vectors in Multivariable Calculus this summer.

Hi Monica,

Great to hear about your interest. We are also creating tailored activity units that instructors can use in their classroom. Matt could reach out to you with this information if you are interested.

What an awesome resource. Our research lab has put out a number of video games to help with math education so this is a topic near and dear to our hearts! Keep up the awesome work.

 I think it is great that you included students in the design process for the game. The game would seem to facilitate translating among alternate representations of linear combinations, it would be interesting to assess this.

What an awesome way to help students understand a concept! I wish that I would have had something like this when I was taking Linear Algebra.

Will that link to the game be working for the foreseeable future? 

Dear Gregory,

Yes the game will be available at this link for another two years, newer updates to the game will also be pushed to this link.

I feel this will be a great tool to use for students who are having a bit of trouble with units on vectors, as well as helpful to students who are a bit more visual and hands-on learners. I know having something like this would have definitely helped me understand concepts when I was taking algebra. Thank you so much for this valuable resource!