teachers
Chess for Math grades k-12.
The chess board can be used as a graph and for teaching math tables and the principles of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division very quickly up to 8x8. Not only this but the board can also help students relate to graphing techniques, longitude and latitude, simple geometry, etc. Because the knight creates a circle for all its possible moves, chess can be used to even teach simple trigonometry and fractions.
Also, the pieces themselves are associated with a numerical value. This adds another element to learning even more math. The inclusion of the visual assocation of numerical values to the board and pieces increases the speed of learning and memory of math concepts, as well as increases attention span, focus, and decreases hyperactivity.
Once you gain experience by using chess to teach math you can expand on your expertise by using it to teach Geography (a map is a kind of chess board + can learn in association with where famous Grandmasters are from), the scientific method, History, Reading, and Writing, even foreign languages (learning how to read chess notation is similar to learning a foreign language). The potential for learning is endless and it doesn't have to stop in elementary school! Follow the links to the right to get started this semester.
The U.S. Chess Center, Washington, D.C.
“The game of chess is not merely an idle amusement; several very valuable qualties of the mind useful in the course of human life are to be acquired and strengthened by it....” --- Benjamin Franklin, "The Morals of Chess"
Why Chess
The Solution Is Simple: A Look At How To Reform U.S. Public School Systems to Compete With the World by Samuel J Hunt, May 2009, Western Kentucky University
IntroductionAn article recently appeared in Time1 that exposed two serious problems in American society: 1) US students are lagging behind globally, and 2) our elected leaders and collective officials have no good idea, let alone consensus, on how to reform the system so as to enable American children increased cognitive proficiency. One solution, tossed out by the appointed Education Secretary Arne Duncan, is that he feels kids need to spend longer hours in school. This begs the question, to do the same thing that has been failing, just doing it longer? Standards have been left up the states to define and are not well correlated to one another. As Walter Isaacson points out, Take the amazing case of Mississippi. According to the standards it set for itself, 89% of its fourth-graders were proficient or better in reading, making them the best in the nation. Yet according to the random sampling done every few years by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test, a mere 18% of the state's fourth-graders were proficient, making them the worst in the nation. This is only interstate comparison not international comparison which bares an even worse report. What is it that gives Europeans, Asians, Russians, and others the ability to be so much smarter than their US counterparts? Is it that the algebra is different over there compared to America; the Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer language, Engineering, etc? Absolutely not, it is all the same science and math rules. So if what we are teaching is the same, then why are they more successful? That is the baseline question isnt it? The question isnt whether we have adequate standards for testing, or whether we are wasting enough time doing something badly. The real question is whether the curriculum is preparing the students to be successful tomorrow. ProceduresCurious to the extent of the problem I googled a common phrase in many education reform articles, US students lack Here is only what came up on the front page: math skills, basic financial knowledge, skills to perform complex literacy tasks, exposure beyond US borders, geography, handwriting skills, and knowledge of our own history as a nation. If we relegate each one of those topics to a fraction, then, as math has taught me, we should be able to find a common denominator. The common denominator of all this information is how the system, no matter what state you are in, has taught information. The education system of America teaches facts only, and more damning, the short-duration memorization of random factual information. Then, year after year, it is repeated. After all, the prevailing practiced educational philosophy is that repetition is the key to learning. This is perhaps a bit cynical, but it is true whether the information is in any of the topics listed above, especially emphasized in math and science. The laws of math and science never change, nor does the past, nor does geography (the land mass), etc. The lack we hear so much about is measured by standardized testing. How do you prepare for these tests except through memorization of accepted factual material? MethodsWhat is the current method of the school system to achieve this? To answer that question I will draw from my own experience growing up in the system and on through college. This past semester I took an exercise science course at Western Kentucky University in Motor Development. On the very last day of lecture I was able to correlate the concept of blocked practice instantly to my career as a student from scholastic to college. Blocked Practice Blocked practice occurs during a single practice period wherein you practice single components of a multi-task skill completely before moving on to the next. Blocked practice is a way to teach new motor skills to those who wish to learn a new sport, or relearn basic physiological functioning after injury. In the case of striking, kicking, blocking in martial arts, you would practice striking 60 times, then move on to kicking 60 times, then move on to blocking 60 times. There are several problems with this method. Primarily that retention and transfer of what you practiced is reduced when occurring in real world situations. In blocked practice you are satisfied that you learn a skill and move onto the next. After a while you forget you learned the first component, while learning a separate component. This is called the forgetting hypothesis; the learner forgets task A to learn task B and then after some time has to go back and relearn, or be explained again task A to be able to do it again. As you can already deduce, this will cause a significant time delay in learning a new motor skill, and requires significant amount of repetition, and yet will only produce minimal results. While initial decision-making and performance are enhanced, when interference is introduced to simulate real-world experience, learning breaks down.Random PracticeIn random practice all components are practiced with no particular order within each practice period. Random practice makes the skill harder to learn in the short-term, but yields long-term learning and retention of the motor skill. When preparing for real-world application of any skill, and the learning is going to have to adapt to variations of time and place, random practice is superior to blocked practice for retention and transfer of the motor skill to its true application (figure 1).What this figure shows is that the best practice for retention and transfer of learning to application is blocked-random practice. This type of practice produces significant schema (underlying organizational pattern or structure; conceptual framework) flexibility and adaptability. Chess InstructionChess instruction takes the idea of random practice to the next level. For one, none of the pieces are the same. Each piece has a different value, purpose, movement, and quality. Secondly, chess forces a player to develop their own cognitive schema which allows them to incorporate, calculate, and interpret facts in a way that is uniquely suited to their own person, which in turn makes learning a personal (and enjoyable) goal they must achieve to be successful. Chess is one of the most effective teaching tools to prepare children for a world increasingly swamped by information and ever tougher decisions.4 Chess benefits the learner in the following ways:Raise intelligence quotient (IQ) scoresStrengthen problem solving skills, teaching how to make difficult and abstract decisions independentlyEnhance reading, memory, language, and mathematical abilitiesFoster critical, creative, and original thinkingProvide practice at making accurate and fast decisions under time pressure, a skill that can help improve exam scores at schoolTeach how to think logically and efficiently, learning to select the best choice from a large number of optionsChallenge gifted children while potentially helping underachieving gifted students learn how to study and strive for excellenceDemonstrate the importance of flexible planning, concentration, and the consequences of decisionsReach boys and girls regardless of their natural abilities or socio-economic backgroundsMore than this chess is part of the educational curricula in nearly 30 countries. All of the nations who have active, thriving scholastic chess programs ranked higher than the US in mathematics5. Those who did not ranked below the US. A statement from New Jersey law for a bill to establish chess instruction in public schools iterates the point, ``In countries where chess is offered widely in schools, students exhibit excellence in the ability to recognize complex patterns and consequently excel in math and science...''6Chess teaches children mathematical lessons and the scientific method in a way that they dont even know they are learning the principles. You can begin teaching them math tables and science principles as early as 3 and 4 years old through chess in a way that traditional classroom setting would never reach them. The benefits of after school programs keep children involved in developing cognitive functioning for hours at a time. Further, after the club and school hours are complete, they will spend time practicing and developing these skills on their own because they have a personal desire to get better and are never forced to sit still in a classroom extra hours per day. Further, they will spend time on weekends in competition with a diverse group of peers from all socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. DiscussionIn my own experience growing up in the system I have noticed the same blocked practice method of learning new material. As I showed in the graph above, blocked practice alone shows a decrease in retention over time. This is glaringly obvious to anyone who does a cursory look at educational statistics and has recently been covered in Time magazine. I have been to three different colleges in three different states and that is exactly how material is presented. My scholastic education was no different, especially in math and science. School years are broken down into segments, quarters, semesters, terms, etc. These segments are further broken down into weeklong periods. In my most recent experience the periods consist of about 4 weeks each. Or, for some classes it is broken down into groups of chapters from the text the course will be covering that term. Invariably, just like blocked practice, you study a set of components, and at then end of the period you take a test to see if you mastered the material (skill) of that component of the class for that (practice) period. Then, invariably, you move to the next segment. The worst practice in this system, and the most tale-tell sign of the failure of this current system, is when in some classes you receive a comprehensive exam as the final test of that semester/ term. It is well known that students do very poorly on those types of tests. Hence, many professors no longer give comprehensive finals, but merely a test over the last component of that semester. Then, you move onto the next semester/ practice period where you are taught more blocked/ segmented information, taken a test over each component at then end of a (4) week period. The Forgetting Hypothesis becomes key here. Yet, in the real world, there are no sit down after 4 weeks and take a test to keep your job. Sadly, comprehensive, college entrance, and state testing is no different. After 6th grade you take a test. After 10th grade you take a test. After high school you take the SAT or ACT. After college you take the GRE, MCAT, LSAT, etc. The process is no different, you study to pass a test, one doesnt actually learn, or retain or develop skill at anything except short-term test taking.What is the result? Students master component A and move onto component B. By the time they move on to component C, they have forgotten A. I observe it every semester and have my whole scholastic life. The professor/ teacher will ask a question about component A while in the middle of teaching component C and the class discussion goes silent and the professor must go over again that bit of information just so someone can answer the question and we can move on with component C so we dont get behind for the semester. The problem is NO VARIABILITY or, in other words, no elaboration. The elaboration Hypothesis supports contextual interference which allows you to compare one skill to another and this increases schema adaptability and flexibility. Students are not taught real-world application and creative use of material for individual development. This has led to a grossly obese system that is fat on excessive information overload and hype over test scores while starving for actual information relevancy to the individual. Hence why American education is so sickly compared to the rest of the world. Chess has taught me to manipulate, categorize, correlate information differently then most all of my peers. For instance, instantly knowing the correlation between blocked/ random practice and the system of education that has led to our current lack of academic standing in the world while sitting in the classroom taking notes for motor development. I am currently 36 years old. Just like research on random practice states: poorer initial performance, but lasting effects. I did not begin to teach myself chess until I was 14 years old. If someone had began a program for me while I was in Kindergarten , first, or second grade then I would have had the knowledge, ability, mental skills, confidence, and capacity that I have now at age 22; just in time for graduation and to enter the real world. The cost of such a program is minimal. The system does not need new requirements, test standards, increased hours in school, or burdens on families. The system merely needs a way to incorporate random practice, and incorporating chess in the school systems at the 2nd and 3rd grade level plus incorporating after school programs is the answer. Teaching such a course in college will help us develop better programs as we advance intellectually and to conduct better research to understand why chess has such a lasting, pronounced effect on cognition.ConclusionTo address the underlying question, are we preparing students to be successful tomorrow in a world economy, we need to enact locally and nationally a reform that will incorporate a blocked-random learning model. The solution is simple; begin teaching chess and how it relates to mathematics, the scientific method, history, psychology, and geography on a national level beginning in the second and third grades in the classroom. Promote heavily the involvement of children in a national after school chess club program. ReferencesIsaacson, Walter. How to Raise the Standard in America's Schools Time. Apr. 15, 2009Jarus, T. (1994). Motor learning and occupational therapy: The organization of practice. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 48, 810-816. Shea, J.B., & Morgan, R.L. (1979). Contextual interference effects on the acquisition, retention, and transfer of a motor skill. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 5, 183. Dauvergne, Dr. Peter. The Case for Chess as a Tool to Develop Our Childrens Minds. University of Sydney. July, 2000Ginsburg, Alan , et al. Reassessing U.S. International Mathematics Performance: New Findings from the 2003 TIMSS and PISA The American Institutes for Research. Dan Edelman, ``New Jersey Legislature Passes Chess Bill into Law,'' Chess Coach Newsletter, Spring 1993, Vol. 6 (1), pp. 1 & 3.
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Figure 1. Shows blocked and random practice and their retention trials. The paired words specify how groups trained. The blocked-blocked group was the only group whose retention decreased over time. Where random practice was incorporated retention was increased (2, 3).
