EXPLORING PROBLEM POSING AS A PEDAGOGICAL DEVICE IN THE CONTEXT OF WEARABLE, TANGIBLE AND UBIQUITOUS GAME-BASED LEARNING

Problem posing is the process of making one’s own problems. Problem posing is an essential component of Mathematics education [1] [2]. Problem posing, for example, may consist of offering an equation like (5+3 = 8) and asking a student to create problems whose “solution” is represented by the equation. For example, a student may pose a problem like “if a person has five coins and she is given three more coins, how many coins does she have?” Game-based learning has recently emerged as an important informal learning technique. One key aspects of a good game design is the presence or creation of conflict. Problem posing is a natural mechanism for creating conflict in a game-based learning scenario where players pose problems to competitors in a peer-to-peer fashion. This paper explores the theoretical foundation, design and implementation of three such educational games based on problem posing.
The first learning game consists of children posing true/false questions for their colleagues in the context of a wearable tag game. In this game children are asked to pose three questions each on a topic of interest. Each child pastes their posed questions about the chosen topic in front of their specially constructed wearable learning shirt. A game round starts when one child’s question is triggered wirelessly by lighting up LEDs on their shirt. As soon as the question is triggered, the child with the posed triggered question starts running. The opponent has to catch this child and tag them using the appropriate true/false button present on the back of each shirt.
The second learning game consists of Chemical Engineering students posing and solving control theory problems while remotely perturbing equipment in a remote laboratory. The remote laboratory equipment consists of two water columns connected to the Internet. Two teams remotely compete against each other by posing control problems that throw the competing team’s water column into oscillations using facebook and mobile phones as the primary interface. Each team is, therefore, engaged in quick problem posing and problem solving sessions where they try to stabilize their own column while de-stabilizing the opponent’s column at the same time.
The third learning game consists of wireless tangible cubes that are used to implement a simulation of the WiMAX signal propagation for a geographical terrain. Each cube represents a different type of sub-terrain. Like speed chess, players successively pose various geographical terrains by placing the cubes in different topological configurations. Each cube also has player-settable parameters like height of the sub-terrain and the degree to which a high WiMAX signal is desired. The opposing player has to find the optimal spot for placing the WiMAX antenna and does so by placing the antenna on the cube they believe will maximize the signal across all cubes. The tangible cube system is connected to a game-server containing the game logic and a WiMAX simulation.

References:

[1] Lyn D. English, "Children's Problem Posing within Formal and Informal Contexts," Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 83-106, Jan 1996.
[2] Turul Kara, Ercan Özdemirb, Ali Sabri, and Mustafa Albayraka, "The relation between the problem posing and problem solving skills of prospective elementary mathematics teachers," Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 2, pp. 1577-1583, 2010.