Pac-Man and Ms Pac-Man in Education

This assignment explores the educational value of Pac-Man, a popular arcade game. Teachers have used Pac-Man as a tool for teaching children about direction and critical thinking by creating life-size model mazes and having kids simulate game activities. Research has also shown that Pac-man meets the necessary criteria of a proper reinforcement learning tool.

Assignment 3: Folio template
Concept: ICT use in the Mathematics and Numeracy Education in Early Childhood (Please ensure that the concept
clearly builds on the concept you explored in Assignment 2: Presentation. Provide a brief explanation if necessary.)
Selected levels: __Year one__________
Curriculum
connections
Description of how
the concept is
addressed, and how
it progresses
throughout each
level.
Content descriptor
Select one content descriptor to focus on
in each level that directly correlates to
your concept and shows a clear
progression.
Resource
Include the name of the resource,
evidence of the resource and a
brief description.
Please note: two out of the
three resources must be ICT
resources.
Rationale
Justification for your resource
selection. This must be
supported by academic
literature.
In some Australian
schools located in states
like victoria, the teachers
employ the use of
computer software and
mobile applications to
educate kids on
mathematics and
numeracy (Joyce, 2014).
For Instance, the iPad
and iPhone application
Numberlys is educative
motion picture software
Under the year one curriculum
observed in the Northern Territory of
Australia; the education of numbers
and algebra to children is considered
essential. As such, with regard to the
learning tool Numberlys, a child is
taught on how to solve elementary
addition and subtraction problems by
employing different strategies. For
instance, a child is offered the task of
arranging all numbers between 1 and
20 in a vertical manner and they are
expected to draw an image or write a
The Numberlys app was adapted from
a short story written by William Joyce.
The idea or inspiration was taken form
an Academy Award-nominated
animated film made by William and
Moonbot Studio. The film pays
homage to all individuals whose life
beyond the black and white (Joyce,
2014).
Moonbots Books, 2014; A
teacher’s guide to the Numberlys.
Description: The book teaches
children on how to view numbers
and letters using elements in their
immediate environment both at
home and at school. For instance,
by having kids memorize the
telephone numbers, street address,
and number of classes in school.

with video game
properties, The overall
concept of the
application is that in a
colourless world, five
protagonists 1,2,3,4, and
5 set off on a journey to
change the status quo by
discovering alphabets.
The game intends to
engrave the forms,
shape, and pronunciation
of the five numbers and
the letters of the
alphabets (Brooker &
Siraj-Blatchford, 2002).
word of what they would wish for if
they could have that many of it.
Beside the number 7 a student can
draw a mango; indicating that he
would like to have seven of these
fruits. This is expected for all numbers
all the way to number twenty.
However, if the pupil is unable to
complete this task on his/her own, a
guardian could assist by writing down
what the child would like to wish for.
Nevertheless, the adult should ensure
that the child clearly express their own
opinion and rationalizes their decision
(Byron, 2008).
Another ICT based
learning tool that is
normally used by
teachers to educate year
one pupil is the
Scholastic Study Jams.
This free online learning
platform allows students
to tackle different
mathematical modules
from an interactive and
explorative perceptive
(Clements, 2002). Each
learning module is
centred on a creatively
designed video that uses
This tool is especially effective in the
education of measurement and
geometry to year one pupils. For
instance, the used of units of
measurements and durations; pupils
learn about inches, centimetres,
pounds, days weeks, months, and
years. Moreover, Study Jam employs
the use of songs, music, dance, and
videos as effective strategies in the
education of young and enthusiast
minds. As such, a year one child
learners how to differentiate between
minutes and hours through the use of a
song. Moreover, the kids are
presented with quizzes to assess their
Study Jams
The resource is referred to as
Scholastic Study Jams. Study Jams
uses media based technology to educate
mathematics and numeracy through
interactive slideshow, karaoke videos,
and comprehensive quizzes. In
addition, Study Jams provides teaching
guidelines meant to aid educators in the
development of teaching strategies. The
most endearing feature of study jams is
that is a free platform that allows
children to have fun while learning
about important topics (Cohen R. ,
1994).
Study Jams resources are
considered to be well targeted and
class level appropriate. As such,
the platform supports the learning
needs of students as young as 4
years old who have already been
introduced to numeracy during
their infancy. The platform has
more than two hundred resources
to help year one pupils
comprehend mathematical
concepts (Cohen, 1988).
Furthermore, the online platform
employs the use multiple teaching
techniques that are tailored to the
learning needs of different pupils.

student discussions and
educators knowledge to
educate on given areas
of interest in numeracy.
The process offers real-
life situations to
elaborate on the step-by-
step procedures to
solving a problem like
2+3-5. In addition, the
online platform tries to
educate students by
allowing them to define
mathematical
terminologies and
difficult words.
ability to recall and retained areas
already covered. In early childhood
education an understanding of line is
availed to pupils by showing them
different lines and explaining to them
why each of the lines has a unique
name and value in the world of
geometry. For instance, a kid learns
the difference between straight line,
curved line, parallel lines, and
intersecting lines. Moreover, the use
of games like skipping ropes in videos
allows pupils to count and keep
scores; in order to determine the
winner (Nastasia & Clements, 1993).
.
For instance, some students may
be more responsive to a video
based learning approach while
others may prefer a game centric
technique to education. Lastly,
study jam strives to ensure that
they keep their teaching content
engaging and fun. Research into
child psychology and behavior
has shown that children are better
able to remember difficult
concepts; if the learning process is
made interactive and engaging
(Confrey, Cobb, diSessa, Lehrer,
& Schaube, 2003).
An eBook that have
proved indispensible in
the education of
numeracy skills in
children relates to
Rosie’s Walk. This
interesting piece of
literature for children
that was written by Pat
Hutchin is a great way to
help children learn about
language and its
application with
difference settings in
The basic foundation to answering a
mathematical question stems from
one’s ability to clearly understand and
comprehend the question. As such, a
firm command over the examination
language allows the student to clearly
comprehend, assess, and resolve a
mathematical problem. Therefore,
using an eBook like Rosie’s Walk, a
teacher can ask the pupils to enact the
events of the books and take snapshots
of the students’ performance to
provide reference and guidance on
their comprehension skills (Feurzeig,
The resource employed here an
academic article “The Role of
Mathematical Fiction in the Learning
of Mathematics in Primary school” it is
written by Janice Padula. The resource
and be retrieve from Padula’s Article
The article centers on the teaching of
mathematical concept using practical
and engaging pictures. Moreover, the
article provides information on how
parents can make the learning process
engaging and wholesome for their
children.
Few people let alone teachers
know about the existence of
mathematical fiction. A series of
storybooks that use pictures to
educate on mathematics concepts
and their application. The origin
of mathematical storybooks can
be traced back to the 1700s with
books like “Gulliver’s Travel”
and in the 1890s with “Alice’s
Adventure in Wonderland”. These
books introduce children to
mathematical concepts (Hayes,
2006).

school and at home
(Staff, 2003). The eBook
also references or
provides links to other
essential leaning
material like
mathematics debates
amongst pupils and the
understanding of
mathematics from a
basic level.
2007). The teacher can then ask the
pupils to simply the story in their own
words to assess how well each
individual understood the story book.
The effectiveness of teaching
mathematics will be influences 80%
by the child’s ability to clearly
workout the required information. For
instance, Mike has three apples, he
sells one to Ann; how many apples
does Ann have? The solution is quite
simple. However, a student with poor
command of English will have trouble
differentiating been the number of
apples held by Ann and Mike after the
trade (Papert, Bloom, Grant, Solomon,
& Feurzeig, 1969).
.
Learning through the use
of games is not a new
concept; educators have
used games to educate
children because of the
emissive nature of
games (Kalas, 2010).
Simple and non-violent
games are normally used
by teachers to educate
and develop the mental
capability of the pupils.
When teaching children on matters of
location and transformation is
appropriate to utilize visual elements
that will allow them to successful
understand the issue of movement and
shift in geometry. Moreover, pupils
can be assigned to groups to discuss
locations by giving directions to each
other regarding where their homes are
situated. In addition, when playing
the game a teacher can play
blindfolded and depend on the
The resource used is titled
“Reinforcement Learning to Train Ms
Pacman Using Higher-Order Action-
Relative Inputs” which was written by
three people Marco Wiering, Ruud
Henken, and Luuk Bom. The writers
are respectively members of one of the
following institutions University of
Groningen in Netherlands, faculty of
Mathematics and Natural Science, and
lastly the Institute of Artificial
Intelligence and Cognitive
In 1982, the arcade video
game Pac-man was released
and instantly became a
popular game amongst the
youth. Since, then the
popularity of the game has
grown over the years. The
simplicity of the Pac-man
game rules makes its suitable
for all ages. However, the
game requires a lot of
complexity in movement to
master. Nevertheless, the

Games like Pacman &
Ms Pacman is a classic
video game that is used
by teachers to educate
young children on
positional language with
regard to the directions
used to make moves
throughout the game i.e.
up, down, left, and right
directions given by a student to
effectively move Pacman or Ms
Pacman across the game platform. The
playing of such a game is a great way
to get pupils talking and interacting
quickly to analysis maters of motion
(Skodackova & Kalas, 2012).
Moreover, a teacher can allow the
student to place the game will other
children watch from the sidelines
describing the movement of Pacman.
Engineering.
The playability of the game and its
intricate working information is
supported by the Pac-man. By
educating the overall working of a
game to pupils a teacher is able to
influence the interactions of the
students within a controlled
environment. As such, the teacher is
able to elevate the level of understand
held by students by bettering their
perception directions (Wiering,
Henken, & Bom, 2013).
easy controls ensure that any
person can learn how to play
the game with very little
training. Research has shown
that Pac-man & Ms Pac-man
meets the necessary criteria
of a proper reinforcement
learning tool.
In some cases teachers make
life-size model mazes and
have kids dress up as Pac-
man and the ghost. The kids
are then asked to simulate
the game activities in Pac-
man will depending on their
own understanding of
direction and critical thinking
(Lincoln & Guba, 1985).

References
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Publications.
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Cohen. (1988). One computer, two languages, many children. Education and Computing, 145-149.
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Papert, S., Bloom, M., Grant, R., Solomon, C., & Feurzeig, W. (1969). Programming-languages as a conceptual framework for teaching mathematics. BBN
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