Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School: General Math - The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game - page 201

participation by these girl students was even lower before KQ. However,
the student with the highest XP was a girl.
n As pencils and dry erase markers were a necessity in the classroom,
before Knowledge Quest students were just given them when they didn

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t

have them. Now, students were automatically charged 50/150 gold if
they did not have a pencil or dry erase marker, respectively. This led to
a large increase in the number of students bringing their materials to
class. Badges were also awarded to those who consistently brought all
their weapons to class.
n One student in particular who had not had much success in class before
Knowledge Quest , was now fully engaged, turning in all homework
assignments, and working really well with guild members. On multiple
occasions, this student mentioned that math is now their favorite subject,
and it is because of Knowledge Quest. Their grade is still low, but they
have a better attitude and have made substantial progress in class.
n After introducing Knowledge Quest, 30% of students who had a grade
letter of C or below for the first two quarters, had increased their grades
to a B or higher.
n There are a total of 107 students, split between four periods. As of
March 2011, 5% were level 1 (of which four students were new to class),
28% were level 2, 32% were level 3, 20.5% were level 4, 7.4% were level
5, and .9% (one student) was level 6.
n There has been some switching of guild members due to an imbalance
in skill level, personality clashes, students leaving the school, and so on.
But, for the most part, the guilds in which students were originally
placed have worked well.
n When students have to work in their guilds during class time, a timer is
started, and we say, “ Enter battle formation! � This is the signal for stu-

dents to work in their guilds.

In order to set the tone in the classroom, medieval music often is
playing or is played once our timer goes off. Students seem to enjoy the
music and get into the game more when music is played along with the
lesson.

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