The Impact of Familiarity on Cooperative Performance
Summary:
This talk will present the results of a study run by Drs. Heidenreich and Joy in Spring of 2026 on the impact of familiarity with one's fellow players on group performance in cooperative board games.
Description:
In 2025 Drs. Heidenreich and Joy did a study on whether mathematically analyzing a cooperative board game (Pandemic) made the players better at it. A flaw in the design of the study suggested a topic for a follow-up study: what's the impact on success of playing a cooperative board game when you play with the same people vs. playing with new people? We think people are more successful with familiar teammates, but how big is the impact? This talk will explain how we ran the study and what our results were, connecting it with our previous results on the benefits of players performing mathematical analysis. The study will be part of a class on The Math of Games run by Dr. Heidenreich.
We will discuss the results of a study which looked at whether having college students analyze games in a Math class actually helped them perform better in those games.
Description:
In Spring of 2025 Dr. Heidenreich and Dr. Joy will run a study funded by a NASA grant looking at whether mathematically analyzing games actually helps students play the games better. This study will be conducted on Dr. Heidenreich's "Math of Games" class at Loras College, where the students' success will be compared against that of a control group. The nature of the mathematical analysis the students performed for class, the methodology of the study, and the results of the study will all be discussed.
Does it still count as a game if we're forcing students to play? We will examine the nature of games, common pitfalls in 'educational games' that make them not fun, and how to avoid them.
Description:
What is a game? Does it still count as play if participation isn't voluntary? These are some sticky philosophical questions about educational games we will discuss as a group in this session. Bring your insights and opinions! But we will also discuss common pitfalls in educational games that make them not 'game-like', like the 'creepy treehouse' or 'chocolate-covered broccoli' phenomena and how to avoid them.
Where to Start: the Top Ten Books in Educational Gaming Literature
Summary:
Dr. Heidenreich will discuss the most important books for those interested in educational gaming. A reading list with a link to an online annotated bibliography will be provided to attendees.
Description:
So you want to learn more about using or designing games for the classroom? This is the place to start! Dr. Heidenreich will go over some of the most important-- or most fun-- books published on the topic. From Jim Gee's "What Video Games Have o Teach Us about Learning and Literacy" to Jesse Schell's "The Art of Game Design", these books cover educational theory, game design theory, psychology and philosophy. Discover your next read from the reading list (or link to Dr. Heidenreich's annotated bibliography) here!
This talk will summarize the content of the book "Teaching Mathematics Through Games", in which Dr. Heidenreich has written a chapter. A free copy of the book will be given to one random attendee.
Description:
We will look at ways to use different games to teach mathematical principles from the book "Teaching Mathematics Through Games". The level of math is mostly high school and college. Some of the games covered in the book include Risk, Arkham Horror Card Game, Farkle, Sudoku, Apples to Apples, SET, Catan, and Carcassonne. A free copy of the book will be given to one random attendee.
Educational Psychology gives us effective tools for achieving certain pedagogical goals. This talk covers how to use findings in this field to design effective educational games.
Description:
Want your students to focus and pay attention to detail? Ramp up the pressure! Want your student to see connections? Loosen up time constraints and inject some humor. Want them to remember facts? Repeatedly force them to recall the facts at random intervals. Educational Psychology gives us effective tools for achieving certain pedagogical goals. This talk covers how to use findings in this field to design educational games that can effectively accomplish their pedagogical goals. We will also look at how these design principles were used in several games designed by Dr. Heidenreich for his Math classes.
Learn to apply your valuable gaming skills in the classroom! Dr. Heidenreich, with decades of experience as a gamer and educator, gives tips on how to apply habits of successful gaming to the class.
Dr. Heidenreich will share his experience teaching the Cold War by having his students play the game "Twilight Struggle". This is a good talk if you're interested in doing something similar.
Foster deep learning by having your students play and analyze games. Dr. Heidenreich will share his experiences of teaching “Math of Games for Liberal Arts Majors” over the past seven years.
Description:
Dr. Heidenreich developed a ‘Math for Liberal Arts Majors’ class based on analyzing games. In this talk, he will describe how the class is designed to foster deep, embodied learning of mathematical thinking using a combination of ‘teaching’ games designed to illustrate principles in statistics, as well as ‘real’ games like King of Tokyo, Settlers of Catan, and Magic: the Gathering. He will also reflect on how the class has grown in the seven years he’s taught it.
Can't find a game that teaches what you need to cover in class? Why not create your own? A fun look at educational game design.
Description:
Dr. Heidenreich has developed many simple pen and paper games to teach math skills and topics in his College Algebra, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus courses. In this session we'll cover the theory of quick game design, tips, and pitfalls to watch out for. As a concrete example illustrating these things, we'll play some of his games in the session. Free copies of the rules and materials for these games will be distributed to any who request them.