SWTOR in Math - Quest Example

Thought I'd share one of the quest chains I came up with for my SWTOR in Math course.  Keep in mind that the course is being designed for grade 8s in British Columbia (curriculum document found here: http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/pdfs/mathematics/2008math89.pdf)

This example is designed to meet the following prescribed learning outcome (PLO)

• C1 – Develop and apply the Pythagorean theorem to solve problems

The in-game map in SWTOR provides a lot of information and one of the most useful pieces is the (x,y) coordinates of both the cursor and the player.  Combine this with the fact that finding the distance between two points is really just an application of Pythagorean theorem, makes for a great activity where the students pick random points on their in-game map and calculate the distance between their players and these points.

The first part of the quest is to watch a few lessons on how to actually apply the Pythagorean theorem to find distance (lessons courtesy of the Khan Academy currently) and then there are a few questions that need to be answered to see if they understood.  This part of the quest can be attempted an unlimited number of times until they are satisfied with their XP gain.  Moodle does a good job of randomly selecting questions without duplication but does require a large enough question bank to be truly effective and random.

If they answer enough questions correctly a bonus mission becomes available where they can answer more Pythagoras/distance formula questions and if they answer enough of those correctly they get a badge.  This bonus challenge has a limited number of tries though so the students need to be fairly proficient if they want the badge.

The second part is then to play the game and pick two points on their map, take a screen shot of the map and show the calculations necessary to show the distance between the two points.  This part can also be done an infinite number of times (or until the student gets it right) so if the first attempt is wrong, I can correct the student and coach him/her on how to do it properly.

I think this is a great way to introduce Pythagoras/distance formula as the student can see an application of it within a somewhat useful (or at least fun) context.  For future quests I will expand on this skill and ask them to calculate their character's speed as one of the PLOs in Math 8 relates to solving problems involving rates.  And to further expand, once the students get their speeders (or other mount) they can calculate their speeder's speed and compare the percentages (another PLO deals with percent problems)

As I try to think of quests for the course, I am finding that I need to brush up on my SWTOR play (been a few months since I really played) because I've forgotten how certain things are done in the game.