Logic in secondary school: From Tamás Varga´s proposed curriculum to board games

Abstract

Studying international literature on the psychology of learning, brain research, and didactic we conclude that logical thinking can be improved through playing board games. The board game player performs complex logical operations and can enjoy the game with little factual knowledge. (Herber et al. 2003) Our research is based on a school experiment with a control group. The two 9th-grade groups have basically the same knowledge and skills. The development of the two groups is compared on the basis of input and output tests and initial knowledge level measurement. The experimental group played (non-mathematical) board games on every third mathematics lesson throughout one semester. We compared the mathematical development of the experimental group with that of the control group, that learned mathematics the traditional way of around 50% more time. Classification: D40, D30, C60. Keywords: Board games, logical thinking, game-based learning