Online games help teach maths
Updated on 24 September 2009
With maths standards in the UK at an all time low a team of mathematicians and computer game designers have launched the first ever games-based website focusing on maths for secondary students.
The games are aimed at 11 to 16 years olds. They fit the national curriculum and are designed to encourage students to explore sophisticated maths concepts as they prepare for their GCSEs.
Manga High has five games, which are free for students to play.
Most of the games reward students for who solve algebraic problems, equations and trigonometry and the fifth game, Prodigi, is a learning engine that includes thousands of maths problems with worked solutions and hints that adapt to each student's ability and learning speed.
The website was created by Dr Marcus du Sautoy, maths professor at the University of Oxford and Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, and Toby Rowland, co-founder of King.com.
Dr du Sautoy said: "Maths is frequently perceived as boring and irrelevant by students. Mangahigh aims to make maths fun and engaging through the use of games and also to spark an interest that reaches beyond the curriculum.
"Mangahigh will enrich students beyond the nuts and bolts of GSCE; it will give them context and a deeper insight into maths, as well as interesting facts that they can share with their friends."
Mr Rowland said: "Mangahigh aims to fuse online games and maths. Having observed millions of players hone their game-playing skills at King.com, I realised that, if this same motivation and stimulation could be bought to mathematics education, it could be a game-changer."
