Gamifying Maths: Enhancing Student Motivation with Mathspace’s New Features

Imagine a classroom where students are eager to tackle mathematics problems, motivated to improve their skills, and celebrate their achievements together. This vision is now becoming a reality with Mathspace’s latest features designed thoughtfully to motivate students through positive gamification.

The Challenge: Maintaining Student Engagement

At Mathspace, we work closely with educators across the country and globally—we understand the struggle of keeping students motivated, especially as the academic year winds down. Mathematics, in particular, presents opportunities to enhance student engagement. We asked ourselves:

“How can we inspire students to engage more deeply with maths and enjoy the learning process?”

Our Solution: Positive Gamification to Motivate Learning

We’ve developed a suite of innovative tools that incorporate gamification elements in a positive and thoughtful way to reignite students’ passion for mathematics. While these features may include game-like elements, they are all designed to engage students directly in mathematics, motivating them to practice more and enhance their learning experience.

Introducing Our Latest Features

📈 Question Streaks

We emphasize effort and persistence by rewarding students not just for correctness but for continuous engagement. Students can retry questions to maintain their streaks, encouraging them to keep trying and reinforcing learning through practice.

Example: “I completed 4 questions in a row, so now I get a 4x points booster!”

🏆 Leaderboard

Our leaderboard focuses on personal achievement and growth, highlighting not only top performers but also individual improvements. Teachers have the flexibility to turn off the leaderboard if they choose, ensuring it fits seamlessly with their classroom dynamics.

Example: “Congratulations to Sarah for moving up 3 spots this week!”

🤝 Tug of War

This is a teacher-selected custom task where you can create groups within your class to compete in solving math problems. It promotes teamwork and collective problem-solving, making learning interactive and fun while keeping the focus on mathematics.

Example: “Team Pythagoras vs. Team Euclid—solve equations to pull the rope to your side!”

🌟 Recognition Stickers

Teachers can now personally acknowledge a student’s effort and achievements by sending them digital stickers that appear on the student’s dashboard. This direct recognition from you is a powerful way to encourage the right behaviors, reinforcing positive actions and motivating students to continue striving in their learning journey.

Example: “Great perseverance, Alex! You’ve earned the ‘Never Give Up’ sticker from your teacher!”

Our Thoughtful Approach to Gamification

We understand that gamification in education must be handled thoughtfully to truly benefit students. Our features are designed with the following principles in mind:

• Encouraging Effort Over Just Correctness: By allowing students to retry questions and maintain streaks, we emphasize the importance of persistence and continuous effort.

• Focusing on Personal Growth: The leaderboard highlights individual progress, motivating students to improve their personal bests rather than just competing against others.

• Providing Teacher Control: Teachers can customize features like the leaderboard and Tug of War to suit their classroom needs, including the option to disable certain features.

• Promoting Collaborative Learning: Features like Tug of War encourage teamwork and collaboration, fostering a supportive learning environment.

Impact on Teaching and Learning in Australia

Integrating these motivational elements into Mathspace offers numerous benefits:

For Students:

• Increased motivation to practice maths

• Improved retention of learned material through sustained engagement

• Immediate feedback that guides learning

• Development of a positive attitude toward tackling challenging problems

       •    Enhanced collaboration and communication skills

For Teachers:

• Innovative methods to maintain classroom engagement

• Additional ways to provide positive reinforcement around learning

• Flexibility to tailor features to classroom needs

• Effective tools to monitor student progress

• Support in cultivating a constructive and enthusiastic learning environment

“My year eight class loved the points and leaderboard features. I didn’t actually tell them about it - when I got the email that it was activated, I thought I’d look into it a bit later. But the very next lesson, the students were like ‘Oh look, we have points, we have a streak, we have this many questions right in a row’ and ‘Look, sir! I’m on top of the leaderboard this week!’! So, without me having to do anything, they put themselves into it right away!”

—Shess Naziry, Unity Grammar College

Be the First to Experience the Change

We’re rolling out these exciting features over Term 4, and you have the exclusive opportunity to gain early access and pioneer these enhancements in your classroom.

Claim Your Early Access Now!

By joining our early access cohort, you’ll not only be among the first to use these features but also play a crucial role in shaping their development through your valuable feedback.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How have you ensured that gamification positively impacts learning?

A: We’ve thoughtfully designed our features to focus on motivating students through effort, personal growth, and collaboration. All game-like elements are directly tied to mathematical practice, encouraging students to engage more deeply with the material.

Q: How long does it take to set up these features?

A: No setup is required—the features are seamlessly integrated into the Mathspace platform. Teachers also have control over certain features to tailor them to their classroom needs.

Q: Are there more gamification features coming?

A: Yes, we have plans for additional collaborative features such as weekly classroom challenges and more ways for students to earn points and rewards, all designed to enhance learning through positive reinforcement.

Q: Will these features work on all accounts?

A: Absolutely! Our new features are available to all users—whether you’re trialing, piloting, or subscribed to Mathspace.

Join Us in Enhancing Mathematics Education

At Mathspace, we’re passionate about making mathematics engaging and accessible for every student. By thoughtfully incorporating positive gamification elements, we’re helping students develop a love for math that goes beyond the classroom.

We’re excited to embark on this journey with you and your students. Together, let’s create classrooms where enthusiasm for maths can thrive!

I look forward to hearing about your experiences and insights as we work together to shape the future of mathematics education.

Best regards,

Paulina Morrison Fell
Head of Product
Mathspace

P.S. Have questions or ideas? I’d love to hear from you! Reach out anytime at info@mathspace.co