Mastering a math mindset with gamification

May 24, 2024

DSU Associate Professor Dr. Kevin Smith and his education students partnered with Madison Elementary’s second-grade classrooms for eight weeks of math activities, which he calls the Chasing Einstein Challenge.

“It’s a chance for me to teach my college students about gamification and a chance to work with area classrooms to do something fun and engaging in their class,” he said.

Gamification is applying elements of a game to other activities to foster engagement.

Smith created Chasing Einstein in the fall of 2017 with the assistance of one of his students, Brandi Antonsen, and has continued to make improvements each year since. The program can be adapted for various grade levels, as it is designed to help all students develop creative and persistent problem-solving skills.

The second graders were divided up into teams and each week they would watch a video Smith created that touches on one of South Dakota’s math standards. Afterwards, they completed a math activity with DSU education students serving as mentors.

Smith explained that the second-grade teachers observed their students as they completed the activities and gave students a score on a scale of 1 to 10. Teachers assessed the students’ attitude and effort, with students losing points if they were off task or may have had a poor attitude.

“We’re really trying to emphasize to them the importance of having a positive attitude and working hard when it comes to math,” he said.

Smith kicked off the challenge by reading his children’s book, “Yucky,” about a young girl named Lily who didn’t like math until a teacher helped her realize there’s more to it than just numbers.

To wrap up the competition, Smith reviewed the various lessons the teams completed each week and awarded prizes to the top three teams on the leaderboard.

For more information on the Chasing Einstein activity, visit chasingeinstein.com.