Improve Educational Progress Through Maths Games That Count
Children in English schools have been shown to the best in Europe at science and maths. But the research has shown that they don’t enjoy lessons. The content and learning format has left a lot to be desired.
Although schools in England have moved up the league they are still well behind those in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan and the Russian Federation. Critically, however, the investigation revealed children’s enjoyment of maths and science had deteriorated. The drilling process that helped achieve these results also had a negative effect and destroyed the fun and desire to learn beyond the curriculum.
Children naturally tend to excel at things they enjoy. Turning learning into a series of connecting educational games encourages the fun element. This can act as the catalyst which can accelerate the learning process far beyond the harsh reality of hot housing. We need to learn from the achievement of the pacific rim countries to develop a model that incorporates enjoyment and inspire learning in place of the cramming approach that forces data in and enjoyment out.
Technology and modern educational games development can come to the fore in the equation. The availability of a vast array of new media and the developing skills in games design has sparked the realisation this could positively encourage the involvement of parents. This has been a key objective in the UK government’s educational plans. Welcomed by teachers. determined to find an effective way to enlist parental to give greater support to their children, getting parents to play educational games at home would send the learning achievement rate souring for their children.
The 13m children in the 33,000 primary and secondary schools in the UK are supported by 435,000 teachers. This produces a nominal teacher pupil ratio of 1:30. A solution to boost the ratio would need extra teachers and school facilities at phenomenal cost. The current financial situation requiring governments to invest in reinforcing ailing industries is bound to have an effect on the funding available to schools. Yet there are 7.3m parents of school aged children. The 1:1 ratio achievable in just 30 minutes at home would significantly boost the learning retention and potentially achieve the cramming objective. This may be the solution to improve a child’s performance and enjoyment without additional cost. If we do nothing we could start to go backwards and watch the educational centre of gravity move East.
