LO: My Inspiration

Project Title: Angle Jungle

What I admire about the project is how it provides a different approach to teaching geometric concepts, because it is clearly important to support that students learn in various ways. I admire how the project makes using a protractor and adding angles fun; in the game, crystals are placed in certain positions such that the player needs to decide what angle or angles would get light to shine on the crystals. I admire how the project uses a treasure map and jungle theme with the setting/music as it really creates a feeling of adventure that I’d previously not associated with math. Having acquirable treasure raises the stakes, instilling a sense of purpose. A critique might be that there isn’t any penalty for testing all the gems, so players might be less inclined to think critically before acting. Five people were involved in making the project, and it took them about a semester to create it. The team was organized into designers, producers, a programmer and a game artist. As far as I know, the authors created the project using commercial software.

The project points to opportunities of combining education, entertainment and motivating components. While some thrive with just the use of textbooks and more traditional methods, others really benefit from interactive games and puzzles.

Link to the online source.

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