INTERACTIVE MATHEMATICAL PROJECT AND TEACHING WITH VIDEO GAMES TO LEARN PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS

• A teacher from Villa de Cura has developed a system in which the relationship of virtual contents with reality, as well as the administration and resolution of problems of video games, serve to teach mathematics and physics "that was the beginning of my First interview in the newspaper El Siglo de Maracay in 2013, and that's how my story began.

I remember that his mom gave me a great gift in 1990. An Atari 2600. A videogame console that gave me a use of technology at home, when Windows was not yet a standard and PCs were an indispensable study tool. Later I received a Nintendo, then a SuperNintendo, and from then on, thanks to my own work, I bought a PlayStation, a Nintendo Wii and an XBOX 360. At first, only to play at home.

Graduated in Education from the Bolivarian University of Venezuela, and working in the Virtual Library of Villa de Cura, I realized that the programmatic contents of mathematics, physics and chemistry were very difficult for many students while they learned very quickly the simulations present in the video game.

In one of my many playful sessions, I noticed how many games showed physical data such as speed, time and distance, the athletes showed statistics of performance and decision making, so they could relate to the teaching of basic sciences in a fun way , inspiring and close to teenagers, many of whom also showed great expertise and interest in technology.

This is how he created a broad and diverse program, called Interactive Mathematics, that helped those who had more problems with these subjects by creating interactive board games based on the culture of the game. Who wants to be a millionaire? Trigonometric or the Grand Theft Auto to learn about high voltage as well as the manufacture of household cleaning products are some of the examples of these new teaching strategies. The results: all improved academically, so that the teacher currently serves almost 80 students from different educational units in Villa de Cura.

"It started when I was in internships, and there was not a specialized teacher for the first and second grade children in physical education. I brought the Wii and its exercise program. " Since August 1, 2010, as part of the staff of the Virtual Library of Villa de Cura start with "Interactive Mathematics" for permanent advice and accompaniment. It was not going well on an exam, saving the subject or avoiding wasting the year, it was inspiring these students in interactive learning.

"I give them exercises and classes before they see them in high school. We make about 15 and then I send them about the same amount for the house. I am demanding with the programmatic contents. A class is like that, and another is to go play with the notebook to go writing down data, it is not to spend hours playing. I use the example of the displacement of a car, which we saw in class, with the simulation of the video game, which improves the experience of the physics laboratory, which is always the same experiment with a mobile phone. For children and adolescents it is easier to understand it with something known, that they like ".

Sitting in front of televisions with PlayStation, my students show what they know how to do. His notebooks have the data thrown by Need for Speed ​​after finishing a race. They learn English when translating what is used to calculate the acceleration: final speed, initial, time, distance. They use a constant, gravity. And at 5 minutes they have used these to calculate a physics formula.

The same goes for the game of FIFA and mathematical statistics: now they know how to change the players according to their performance, speed, accuracy and number of goals. I also ask you to learn about the geography, fauna, flora and climate of the countries to which the teams with whom you prefer to play belong. There is a child, 9 years old, who already has basic knowledge of physics in fifth grade

Volunteer heart

I have my own consoles and televisions at home, as well as several PCs where she has games to teach young children when she has to go to high schools, but she rents a few hours at a local business and uses the spaces of the Virtual Library to teach, always in a volunteer and just asking for a small collaboration for the markers and other materials used to build the board games.

I also work with the Department of Family Strengthening of the House of Women to give math and computer classes to pregnant teenagers, advises schools so that students from 1st to 5th year create Community Articulated Projects, in which they dedicate all subjects to the creation of a social initiative, such as a day of donations for a grandparents' house in which they use mathematics, physics and chemistry to analyze food, caloric intake and portions, while doing surveys that allow them to relate studies with everyday applications.

"We have also worked with institutions such as Infocentro to teach students the use of Excel to calculate percentages and statistics." As a comprehensive project, "Interactive Mathematics" includes lectures on prevention of early pregnancy through the use of contraceptives, condoms and sex education.

I also studied TSU in UPTA computer and repair phones and computers, and I also have a fixed position as a physics teacher at the "Alberto Smith" high school in Villa de Cura, and on weekends, I dedicate three or four hours to free education and community

Finally, conduct a census of 300 high school graduates interested in having UNEFA headquartered in Villa de Cura for Nursing, Medicine, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering careers.

My game and social networks

But I want to go wants to go to more. To program my own game, although not an expert, I already advised a computer engineer to use the Linux programming language based on Linux - because working with proprietary software consoles has not been able to receive support from public institutions - to teach equations to sixth grade children and polynomials to students from eighth grade.

Also sign (a long time ago) a petition for the National Assembly to consider the classification of video games as it is done with film films, to allow adults to acquire and enjoy games that are now totally prohibited because they are warlike or violent.

Convinced of the use of technology in an educational way, he already ventured into the use of social networks and blogs. "After testing videogames as a pedagogical strategy, have students write on the Internet, in English and Spanish, about what they have learned, using translation tools together with the classes, learning the use of Information and Communication Technologies to learn and teach".