This study focuses on pre-service teachers' experimentation with a game-modding process in a constructionist setting whilst they experimented with randomness embedded in wider socio-scientific issues that call for decision making under uncertainty. In this process, participants created 39 different game mods. Our observations of the participants…

A literature review establishes a working definition of recreational mathematics: a type of play which is enjoyable and requires mathematical thinking or skills to engage with. Typically, it is accessible to a wide range of people and can be effectively used to motivate engagement with and develop understanding of mathematical ideas or concepts.…

Halfway through the 2015 AFC Championship game between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, game officials discovered that the Patriots were using underinflated footballs on their offensive snaps. A controversy ensued because the Patriots had actually supplied these balls to the game's referee just hours before kickoff. Athletes and…

This study developed a game simulation based on problem solving in the management of urban waste. We then investigated the factors affecting the decisions made by players. During gameplay, the players sought to guide the development of a city via management strategies involving a balance of economic growth and environmental protection. Nature…

Student understanding and retention can be enhanced and improved by providing alternative learning activities and environments. Education theory recognizes the value of incorporating alternative activities (games, exercises and simulations) to stimulate student interest in the educational environment, enhance transfer of knowledge and improve…

Ever had a roommate? Then you know that it can be difficult to share housekeeping duties. This article uses game theory to analyze situations in which there is a task to be done and two people who might do it. We then use our analysis to consider what game theory tells us about the gendered division of household labor.

The traveler's dilemma is a generalization of the prisoner's dilemma which shows clearly a paradox of game theory. In the traveler's dilemma, the strategy chosen by analysis and theory seems obviously wrong intuitively. Here we develop a measure of evolutionary stability and show that the evolutionarily stable equilibrium is in some sense not very…

Simulation games are now increasingly applied to many subject domains as they allow students to engage in discovery processes, and may facilitate a flow learning experience. However, the relationship between learning experiences and problem solving strategies in simulation games still remains unclear in the literature. This study, thus, analyzed…

"The Price is Right" ("TPIR") is a rich source of examples of applied probability, combinatorics, and game theory. While some of the games played on stage by individual contestants stress a knowledge of pricing, many are also heavily based on probability. "TPIR" stage games are a treasury of interesting modules that can be effective learning tools…

In 1945, Bronislaw Knaster proposed a procedure to divide any number of indivisible goods between a finite number of players requiring the players to place monetary values or bids on all of the goods. Often discussed in math for liberal arts courses that concentrate on contemporary applications of mathematics for non-major students, Knaster's…

This article asks how good video and computer game designers manage to get new players to learn long, complex and difficult games. The short answer is that designers of good games have hit on excellent methods for getting people to learn and to enjoy learning. The longer answer is more complex. Integral to this answer are the good principles of…