Animo math: The role-playing game in mathematical learning for children

Abstract

Presently, the advancement of modern digital technology has increasingly influenced playing and learning. This may cause serious problems in children because it possibly encourages them to obsess over something else easily. However, most parents want their children to be good in classes. Additionally, mathematics is one of the most basic skills that most parents expect their children to master. In order to encourage students to pay more attention to mathematics, the mathematical game referred as to 'Animo Math' has been developed for children aged 5-7 years. This game enables children to pick the cartoon animals representing themselves while playing the game. Colourful cartoon and music are utilised to attract the attention of children. More importantly, the game aims to serve children who have different ages and mathematical skills; therefore artificial intelligence (AI) is adopted. In order to develop the computer-based role-playing game, a usability testing is conducted to obtain better aspects of building this educational computer game for children. We anticipate that our research findings related to this game will encourage more educators and others to develop more software applications in order to enhance students' mathematics learning.