This study investigated the effects of (1) proximal grouping of numbers; (2) problem-solving goals to make 100; and (3) prior knowledge on students' initial solution strategies in an interactive online mathematics game. In this game, students transformed an initial expression into a perceptually different but mathematically equivalent goal state.…

This study investigated the effects of: (1) proximal grouping of numbers; (2) problem-solving goals to make 100; and (3) prior knowledge on students' initial solution strategies in an interactive online mathematics game. In this game, students transformed an initial expression into a perceptually different but mathematically equivalent goal state.…

Background: Prior work has shown that middle school students struggle with algebra and that game-based educational technologies, such as DragonBox and From Here to There!, are effective at improving students' algebraic performance. However, it remains unclear which aspects of algebraic knowledge shift as a result of playing these games and what…

New educational technologies that utilize students' interaction data and visualizations provide a means to expand our understanding of learning processes. In this study, we apply two advanced and novel data visualization techniques, called the "Indivisualizer" and a "Sankey diagram," to explore how middle school students (N =…

New educational technologies that utilize students' interaction data and visualizations provide a means to expand our understanding of learning processes. In this study, we apply two advanced and novel data visualization techniques, called the "Indivisualizer" and a "Sankey diagram," to explore how middle school students (N =…

Prior research has shown that game-based learning tools, such as DragonBox 12+, support algebraic understanding and that students' in-game progress positively predicts their later performance. Using data from 253 seventh-graders (12-13 years old) who played DragonBox as a part of technology intervention, we examined (a) the relations between…

Prior research has shown that game-based learning tools, such as DragonBox 12+, support algebraic understanding and that students' in-game progress positively predicts their later performance. Using data from 253 seventh-graders (12-13 years old) who played DragonBox as a part of technology intervention, we examined (a) the relations between…

Background: Prior work has shown that middle school students struggle with algebra and that game-based educational technologies, such as DragonBox and From Here to There!, are effective at improving students' algebraic performance. However, it remains unclear which aspects of algebraic knowledge shift as a result of playing these games and what…

We apply an advanced data visualization technique, "Sankey diagram," to explore how middle-school students (N = 343) solved problems in a game-based algebraic notation tool. The results indicate that there is a large variation in the types of students' strategies to solve the problems, with some approaches being more efficient than…

Feedback in educational technologies can teach and engage students in math, but questions remain on how to present failure feedback that supports positive learning behaviors. We explore how error- and reward-based feedback influenced students' choices to replay completed problems in "From Here to There!," a math game-based educational…

Background: Persisting after experiencing difficulty allows students to work in the upper ends of their zones of proximal development, where most learning occurs (Ventura et al., 2013; Vygotsky & Cole, 1978). Digital educational games promote productive persistence by allowing students to repeat the same or similar problems until they reach…