Tug-of-war: a card game for pulling students to fractions fluency

We propose that adoption of game-based-learning principles can be increased by providing standardized-test evidence of learning from gameplay. This paper describes a game called Tug-of-War as a candidate for such evidence. Tug-of-War is designed to help fourth-grade students build fluency with fractions. Development of the game followed an iterative design process of user testing and rules refinement, culminating in an experimental trial in which a single fourth-grade class was divided into two cohorts. Each cohort played Tug-of-War for six or seven weekly 75-minute sessions while the other cohort participated in unrelated research. Results indicate that both cohorts achieved significant learning gains by playing Tug-of-War in addition to the traditional curriculum. Playing Tug-of-War was also shown to significantly improve scores on the fractions subsection of a statewide standardized test.