Mountains of Absolutely Terrifying Height Erasmus Project

Project Title

Mountains of Absolutely Terrifying Height

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

The project title, Mountains of Absolutely Terrifying Height (MATH), is also the name of a Serious Game App which was designed in this ERASMUS+ project which was cofunded by the European Commission. The project name also hints at the state of mind concerning math for many learners. The way that math is currently taught in most schools appears to be difficult for many learners, so that even basic mathematical skills become literally terrifying high mountains that the learners are afraid to conquer. Forcing the learners to climb them anyway only makes the situation worse, reinforcing the fear and disinterest in the head of many learners.
The project started on the 1st of September 2017 -and ended on the 31st of August 2019.

The aim of the project MATH was to design, develop, test and evaluate an innovative free Serious Game App and additional didactical materials and a handbook (everything as OER) to use the app and the materials to support teachers and learners providing a motivational basis and an improvement of mathematical skills. With an innovative Serious Game the development and implementation was created in a new approach that presents the mountains as a fun opportunity to challenge your friends to a game. The game-based learning approach offers trophies for accomplishments (such as medals for different types of slopes that learners climb in the game). The approach addresses the fact that in many European countries students are severely lacking even basic skills in mathematics.

The project ran in a coorperation of two German partners, a Bulgarian partner, a Spanish partner and a Turkish one. The consortium of the MATH project was carefully selected accoring to the skills of the partners. It consistes of five partners and was lead by the University of Paderborn which provided the expertise in evaluation and e-learning didactics. The SME, Ingenious Knowledge, had the technical skills to create cutting edge games at the highest quality level. The three schools in Bulgaria, Spain and Turkey had been selected because of their drive for innovation and their experience with creating new approaches. They made major contributions to testing, evaluating, and spreading the game among other schools, teachers and students.

The MATH consortium created a showcase for how a well-executed game-based learning approach can improve basic math skills of learners. The game is built as a smartphone app that lets learners challenge other learners to a mountain climbing contest. Climbing a mountain is done by quickly solving simple math problems which depend on the current slope condition. The challenge mode will take an asynchronous approach which lets the challenger climb the mountain first. The friend who is challenged will then try to climb faster in a view with the two contestants side by side. In solitary mode the game will give learners the opportunity to practice, receive awards for getting to the top of various mountains, and unlock new challenges.

The project MATH focuses on basic math skills, using a game-based approach to train learners in performing calculations and applying basic math concepts. The consortium will create a serious game that can be played at various skill levels, starting at elementary school level. The consortium was able to study how even disadvantaged learners with math difficulties and educational difficulties can be motivated to play the game and improve their skills. The results were published on the internet in social media, in press releases and the MATH books. The were made available for others to use in building better learning solutions. The game was spread widely as a showcase for a modern learning approach that encourages learners to practice and improve their skills.

The participants of MATH or users of the Serious Game App were teachers and learners. At the end of the project more than 1600 downloads of the App are already there and the numbers are still growing. The learners can use the app on their own but the app can also be introduced by teachers in school and can used to enhance school education with a blended learning scenarios using the app and classroom teaching with regard to the mathematical topics of the app. The topics fit to the curricula in the different partner countires and address: calculation of slopes (slope of a straight), the pytharogean theorem, the length of the sides of triangles, calculation of square root not only by calculator but by estimations in the head of the learners.

It is a sustainable project and the MATH app is available also after the project on Apples App store and the Andriod Play Store. The website http://eduproject.eu/math/ is also available at lease for 5 years after the end of the MATH project.
The MATH books are destributed online and via book stores. So, teachers are able to use the App in the future, too and learners are able to download it easily.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 175330 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITAET PADERBORN & Country: DE

Project Partners

• 1. OU ”Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov”, Berkovitsa
• Ingenious Knowledge GmbH
• CEIP TOMÁS ROMOJARO
• Adana Cukurova Guzel Sanatlar Lisesi