WordPlay is a 2-4 player table top game for players in 6^th grade between the ages of 10-12 years old.  The total amount of players in this game is 24 players altogether.The game is an exciting, fun way for ESL students to learn new vocabulary words that appears in the English language.  Since there are no controllers used in this game it takes place in the real world.The rules are easy to follow however some groups had difficulties understanding how to  play so they had to observe others before playing. The first step is for all players to roll the dice to determine the order, then they roll again to determine the number of spaces they will move along the board.   WordPlay is a linear game as the players can only move forward and backward.  The player receives feedback from the instructor and interacts directly with the game. The colors on the board represent different task the players must fulfill such as yellow means they must properly use the word in a sentence.  The different colors represent different things however there is also the “Wild Card” in which the player must use their semantic memory to recall words taught from a previous lesson.  If the player lands on the “Wild Card” they have 2 minutes to successfully fulfill all 4 task for the word selected.

The players were divided in different groups of students of similiar IQs who all had a fair chance to win the game so WordPlay is balanced and there is nothing broken in the game. Once all players pass “start” the game is complete however, the first player who passes “start” will receive 5 extra points on the next exam. As this is the only thing they receive from playing this game, the players must work hard in order to get the points.  The conflict in this game is when the students  started to yell out the answers, not allowing the other players a chance to answer on their own. Since it is sometimes difficult to retrieve things from your long term memory especially after some time has passed, this may be the only challenge in WordPlay because players need to recall words from both the new unit and old unit. After the WordPlay is completed the player will have a better understanding of a new language and new vocabulary words as well as the extra points so for this reason, the achiever in the Bartle Taxonomy will most like this game. Overall, the players in WordPlay are engaged as  it is a fun game   that allows them to use their memory in an exciting way.

WordPlay consist of 24 subjects who were recruited from a  6th-grade  middle school class.  They are students of a particular 6th-grade teacher  so this is the only criteria.  The demographics were obtained from a questionnaire that was administered to each subject.The participants consist of both boys and girls and a variety of ethnicities were represented such as Hispanic and Arabic.
WordPlay is an educational tool that can be used in the classroom to teach students new words; it was presented as an ordinary game to the subjects  to avoid  the results being skewed.The responses were observed for accuracy and speed which indicates an improvement in memory. The subjects were broken up into three groups, ELLS, IEPS, and Regular.  For each group there were two trials each containing 4 students for a total of 24 subjects. Each group contained a mix of different gender and ethnicity, Spanish, Arabic, etc. After the grades for the exam were calculated, all subjects had an overall improvement that was proportionate to their group. Additionally, there were improvements in their personal score. There was greater overall improvement in the regular 6th-grade students score compared to the others. The results were exciting to observe since there was an improvement as a result of playing WordPlay.

WordPlay is a 2-4 player table top game for players in 6^th grade between the ages of 10-12 years old. The game is an exciting, fun way for ESL students to learn new vocabulary words that appears in the English language. It takes place in the real world as there are no controllers used in this game. The rules are easy for all players to follow. The first step is for all players to roll the dice to determine the order, then they roll again to determine the number of spaces they will move along the board.   WordPlay is a linear game as the players can only move forward and backward.  The player receives feedback from the instructor and interacts directly with the game. The colors on the board represent different task the players must fulfill such as yellow means they must properly use the word in a sentence.  The different colors represent different things however there is also the “Wild Card” in which the player must use their semantic memory to recall words taught from a previous lesson.  If the player lands on the “Wild Card” they have 2 minutes to successfully fulfill all 4 task for the word selected.  There is nothing broken in WordPlay and it’s balanced since all players have a fair chance at winning. Once all players pass “start” the game is complete however, the first player who passes “start” will receive 5 extra points on the next exam. As this is the only thing they receive from playing this game, the players must work hard in order to get the points. Since it is sometimes difficult to retrieve things from your long term memory especially after some time has passed, this may be the only challenge in WordPlay because players need to recall words from both the new unit and old unit. After the WordPlay is completed the player will have a better understanding of a new language and new vocabulary words as well as the extra points so for this reason, the achiever in the Bartle Taxonomy will most like this game. Overall, the players in WordPlay are engaged as  it is a fun game   that allows them to use their memory in an exciting way.

The subjects in WordPlay are from a particular 6th-grade class in a middle school. The ethnicities the subjects are mixed but include Hispanics, Indian, and Haitians. There were 20 students both boys and girls ranging from the age of 10-12 years old. The narrow down the  demographics a questionnaire was administered using pencil and paper.  Since the rules were previously explained to the subjects i didn’t have to explain in details.  However, for those that missed the class they were briefly explained once more as well as being reminded that they could be disqualified if they failed to follow the rules and respect each other.  In addition to how accurate the students were able to answer, I also observed response time. Measuring the time it took them to respond let me know how well they remember and if the word was unclear. For the purpose of this experiment,the only condition of WordPlay is to be in 6^th grade and a student of the specific teacher who granted permission to use their students.  I did not forewarn them that their answers would be observed and the results would be used for a study because I wanted natural responses.  Doing this prevented the results from being swayed a certain way. Once the game was completed, test results were observed to determine if there were any improvements in the memory of the subjects since playing the game. Because the students had prior knowledge of the rules they were able to jump right in. they were excited to play just like the first time. There was a slight improvement in accuracy for some. However, other had a difficult time recalling words from the previous unit as expected. The wild card was drawn a couple times and the first time the student couldn’t remember at all. The other time the student could hardly remember but got close to the fulfilling the task. I attribute this to lack of studying and the time that had passed.  I may wait a couple days before administering the experiment again since this could affect their memory. Doing this will help me determine how well they remember after some time has elapsed. All in all, I think WordPlay is a fun board game that will be used to help prove my thesis.

The board game WordPlay will be used to  measure the effects of memory  on 6th grade students in a middle school. The subjects consist of both boys and girls  in and ESL class between the age of 10- 12 years old.  A questionnaire was used to determine the ethnicity  of the subjects which include  Haitian,  Middle Eastern, Hispanic, African American and Indian. Once the volunteers were determined, the rules were explained to them and they were given  the opportunity to  ask questions regarding it.  The subjects  must first roll the dice to determine who will go first, second, etc. Then they roll again to determine how many spaces they will move along the board.  The colors on  the board represent  different task  they must fulfill, such as defining a word. If they answer incorrectly they move back to their original spot before  they rolled the dice. First person to end up back at start will win the extra points on the next exam.   The results from the exams will used to determine if  there was an effect on memory since playing WordPlay and thus proving the thesis.

The game I will be developing is called WordPlay which is a tabletop game. This game will use the cognitive processes  such as memory in order to win. This game will be used as a tool to help ESL students learn new vocabulary words. All players must roll the dice in order to determine the order in which the players will go, the  highest number rolled will go first, second highest second etc.  Once the order is determined the first player rolls again  to determine the number of space they will move along the board. On the board there are various colors such as blue and green. Each color represent a specific element of a word the player must provide. For example if the player lands on blue  they must define the word, green means they must provide the synonym. In order to successfully complete the task they must give the correct answer however if they fail to provide the correct answer they must move  the number of spaces before they rolled the dice.  In addition to the colors on the board there are wild cards.   The wild card indicates to the player that  they have 2 minutes to successfully provide all 4 tasks for a word from the previous lesson. The task including definitions and using them in a sentence.  In order to win this game the player must successfully complete 1 full round on the board. After playing this game the test results from exams will be observed to determine if this game was successful in helping the ESL students remember vocabulary words.

The experiment that I will be conducting will  observe the cognitive process of memory. My subjects will be 6th graders between the age of 10 and 12 who are in an ESL class taught by a specific teacher thus it will only be available to those students. The ethnicity of the students will be a mixture of Spanish, Middle Eastern, and African American just to name a few.  I will create a table top game in which it will test the students memory of vocabulary words. The students will have a few minutes to study the  list of  vocabulary words including the definitions. They will then have 2 minutes to match the words with the appropriate definition and vice versa. If they receive a special card then the  subjects will have to give the spelling of the word in order to get points. However, if they fail the spell the word correctly then they will lose a turn.  After the game is over the team with the most points wins the game and although they are not getting paid they will receive extra points in the class.  The effects of this game will be tested against the score the students receive on an exam in order to determine if there was any improvements in memory thus confirming the thesis.

Playing games isn’t something one would think of as a way of teaching a subject to students. however, new studies have shown that playing games has good benefits to students in the long run.One suggests that computerized games benefit to individuals.  Students in 1^st grade, who didn’t attend school on a regular basis, played computerized games for less than 6 hours a day over a 10 week range. After the 10 week range the students felt encouraged to attend school and catch up with the work of their peers in math and language. Similarly, another study was done that showed an increase in math and reading scores for 2^nd graders. A computerized brain training program was developed by Yale University. These second graders played brain training games three times a week for a four-month period. As a result there was a significant increase in the test score compared to those who had one-on-one training.  much like these studies that were done I would like to conduct a research on 6th grade children in an ESl class to observe how well they remember the lesson when it is approached  in a different way such as a board game. I would like to investigate if there is any difference in how quick they learn the material and if there is an overall improvement in their abilities opposed to learning in the traditional way.