Promoting Adaptive Number Knowledge Through Deliberate Practice in the Number Navigation Game

Abstract

Strengthening adaptive expertise in mathematics education through deliberate practice is a challenging task in traditional classrooms. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether Number Navigation Game (NNG) promotes deliberate practice and how the game performance profiles relate to Adaptive Number Knowledge (ANK) development, perceived challenge, flow, and math interest. NNG is a game-based learning environment that requires students to progress by making more complex arithmetic solutions, which is particularly important to promote ANK. Game performances of 214 Finnish students require not only addition and subtraction but also multiplication and division operations were compiled and compared to the best performance possible for each level. A growth mixture model based on students’ relative performance levels was employed to offer insight into the changes in students’ game performance throughout the game, and the relations of students’ game performance with knowledge gains, perceived challenge, math motivation, and flow. We identified four profiles of students’ game performance. The largest profile steadily enhanced their performance in playing the game despite having lower-than-average initial performance. This group experienced lower flow and larger learning gains than other groups, which suggests their engagement may be more aligned with deliberate practice.