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I have a theory that puzzles are essentially practice for the working memory skills we need in order to perform more complicated activities. That’s a mouthful, but what I mean is that in order to perform a complex task, like writing a book or solving a complicated math problem, we need to be able to […]
June 20, 2012
I was just playing around with Motion Math, working on a review for The Puzzle School and I came across one of their games where if you don’t answer fast enough then a pin pops your bubble and you have to start over. I’ve never been a big fan of this type of motivation. It’s […]
June 19, 2012
The concept of failure is very present in modern day education. We use the threat of failure as both a means of motivating, so that you don’t fail, and of filtering, preventing those students who did fail from moving forward. This concept of failure is only part of the picture in the real world, though. […]
June 17, 2012
At The Puzzle School we’re essentially trying to teach through trial and error. Which means we aim to create environments (puzzles) where you can solve challenges through trial and error. This means that the environment is simplified, making it easier to come up with hypothesis to “try” and where there is feedback that makes it […]
June 15, 2012
I’ve started to review some educational websites and apps over at The Puzzle School: http://puzzleschool.com/puzzles The reviews are focused on websites and apps that fit the model of learning I’m trying to promote through The Puzzle School. Namely one that focuses on the intrinsic motivators of challenge, progress through consistent feedback, and a clear goal. […]
June 15, 2012
I’ve never loved the statement, “not all students are the same”. It’s generally used to combat overly generalized processes that end up serving all students ineffectively. It’s also used to encourage viewing students as the individuals that they are with distinct talents and passions, rather than blank-faced cogs in an educational machine. As much as […]
June 14, 2012
Gamification is a common buzzword in education these days and for good reason. At it’s heart gamification is very powerful. It strives to make education more enjoyable, mimicking the dedication people see in young and old people toward video games. I would much rather people think more about puzzles, though. There are a number of […]
June 13, 2012
Even though I would absolutely recommend DragonBox, it still frustrates me. The main reason is that, in order to teach algebra, they’ve had to strip out all of the “why”. The game abstracts algebra (which is already an abstraction of the real world) to the point that it’s unlikely that someone will walk away from […]
June 13, 2012
I just discovered DragonBox, an “Angry Birds”-like game that is all about solving algebraic equations. It may sound boring but they’ve done an excellent job of presenting the math in the form of a puzzle so that you don’t even know you’re solving math equations until it’s too late. Instead of “x” and “y” you […]
June 11, 2012
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance has a good description of the problem I see with so much education today: What’s really angering about instructions of this sort is that they imply there’s only one way to put the rotisserie together – their way. And that presumption wipes out all the creativity. Actually there […]
June 21, 2012
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