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• Integrating Didactic Games in Higher Education: Benefits and Challenges

  1-15

  Attila Körei

  Szilvia Szilágyi

  Zsuzsanna Török

  Views:

  448

  In our paper, we study the reasons for the introduction of didactic games and the way of their application in higher education, especially in teaching mathematics. After describing the main characteristics and needs of Generation Z students, we outline the advantages and drawbacks of gamification and game-based learning, followed by some new aspects to their classification. The idea of device-based grouping arose because the most commonly used methods require IC tools. Gen Zs naturally accept gamified learning materials available on digital and mobile platforms, but we must not forget about traditional games either. In higher education, especially in the case of small-group teaching there should also be room for traditional, specialized didactic games, of which we focus on the benefits of card games.

  Subject Classification: 97C70, 97D20, 97D40, 97U70

• Heads or Tails gambling — what can be learned about probability?

  15-41

  Attila Máder

  Views:

  23

  During the teaching of probability theory, a problem may appear whose solution requires the use of methods that are unfamiliar to secondary school students. In this paper, examples of methods that can resolve this difficulties are demonstrated, which could in future allow school students to tackle and solve a wide variety of problems involving probability.

• The time spent on board games pays off: links between board game playing and competency motivation

  119-131

  András Ferenc Dukán

  Katalin Fried

  Csaba Szabó

  Views:

  140

  The impact playing has on the development of thinking is an important topic of psychology of learning, brain research and mathematics didactics.
  Our research is also connected to the aforementioned topic. We investigated the effects of playing board games on competence motivation and the development of mathematical competencies.
  In this paper, we present the results of an experiment carried out in a secondary school class.
  The experimental group spent one of three weekly mathematics lessons playing board games.
  Apart from the several advantages of playing games in general, we can conclude that, based on the results of the national competence measurement, the mathematical competence of the students developed properly.
  The readiness and the progress of the pupils were compared on the basis of input and output tests and an initial knowledge measurement and, at the same time, we compared their level of mathematical competence with the results of the national competence
  measurement.

  Subject Classification: 97C70, 97D40

• Comparative survey on pupils' beliefs of mathematics teaching in Finland and Ukraine

  13-33

  Erkki Pehkonen

  Sergey Rakov

  Views:

  15

  The focus of this comparative survey was the following research question: What are the differences and similarities in pupils' beliefs in mathematics between Finland and Ukraine? Data were gathered with the help of a questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of 32 structured statements about mathematics teaching for which the pupils were asked to rate their beliefs on a 5-step scale. The Finnish sample comprised 255 pupils, and the Ukrainian sample 200 pupils. Our data has been gathered with a non-probabilistic convenience sampling.
  The main results of our survey are, as follows: Generally, pupils' beliefs of mathematics teaching and learning in Finland and Ukraine are rather far from similar. An investigation of the differences between pupils' answers across the two countries also showed beliefs that are characteristic for each country. For pupils in Finland, the characteristic beliefs seem to be, as follows: the value of strict discipline, working in small groups, and the idea that all understand. For pupils in Ukraine, the most characteristic might be the following beliefs: the use of learning games, the emphases of mathematical concepts, and teachers' explanations.

• An interactive animation for learning sorting algorithms: How students reduced the number of comparisons in a sorting algorithm by playing a didactic game

  45-62

  Ladislav Végh

  Veronika Stoffová

  Views:

  36

  Learning programming and understanding algorithms is one of the hardest tasks for novice computer science students. One of the basic algorithms they learn during the introductory programming and algorithms courses are the sorting algorithms. Students like learning these and other algorithms by animations and didactic games, however, these animations are not educationally useful in every case. In this article, we present our educational sorting game, which can be used to introduce the topic of sorting algorithms. The didactic game can be used later too, as a demonstrative tool for explaining the more efficient, quicksort algorithm. We conducted a pedagogical experiment, in which we examined the process of development of sorting algorithms by students while they used the mentioned didactic game. The results showed that students were able to create an algorithm to solve the sorting problem, and they improved its effectiveness by reducing the number of comparisons in the algorithm. They were also able to understand the importance of the efficiency of algorithms when we demonstrated them the quicksort algorithm using the same tool after the experiment.

• Learning and Knowledge: The results, lessons and consequences of a development experiment on establishing the concept of length and perimeter

  119-145

  Margit Tarcsi

  Views:

  33

  In the paper the four main stages of an experiment are described focusing on the question as to how much measuring the length and perimeter of various objects such as fences, buildings by old Hungarian units of measurements and standards contribute to the establishment of the concept of perimeter.
  It has also been examined in what ways and to what extent the various forms of teaching such as frontal, group and pair and individual work contribute to the general knowledge, thinking, creativity and co-operation in this area.
  It will also be shown to what extent folk tales, various activities and games have proved to be efficient in the teaching of the particular topic.
  Every stage of the experiment was started and closed with a test in order to find out whether the development was successful and children managed to gain lasting knowledge in this particular area.