Developer Diaries: Meeting Learning Objectives

“Working with the design team, there was this group of people who normally wouldn’t be in the same room together—we came from very different backgrounds—took a little bit of time to learn how to work together and understand each others’ point of view. Once we did, we found that we could go much further together than any of us would have been able to go on our own. We were all learning.”
—Dr. Ted Stanford

In the video below, New Mexico State University’s Lead Mathematician, Ted Stanford, discusses the collaborative design process behind the game, and how Game Over Gopher helps kids learn and retain their learning—placing points on a coordinate grid as part of engrossing gameplay.

In addition, Learning Games Lab Partnerships Manager, Amy Smith Muise, describes how “Shout Out/Watch Out” and other tools from GlassLab Game Services give teachers power to monitor and advance student learning when using the game in the classroom.

This amazing team developed Game Over Gopher, a tower defense game that enables students to better understand mathematics concepts that are crucial for 6th-grade math (and align with the Common Core Standards).

Funded by the National Science Foundation and developed by the Learning Games Lab at New Mexico State University, Game Over Gopher is a game in the Math Snacks suite of interactive educational learning modules. Math Snacks are games, interactive modules and short animations, intended to help learners better understand the concepts behind the mathematics content. They are not designed to replace instruction, but to supplement it by making math accessible and engaging. Key concepts are conveyed in creative, visual, and applied ways.

Game Over Gopher is the first of six high-quality, high-impact games made by leading game developers who are part of the GlassLab beta partner program. Check out the game, real-time reports, instructional resources, and more on GlassLab Games.

Original Post/ GlassLab Games