[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-136017-en":3,"doc-seo-136017-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},136017,1374402968488,"Đào","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0",8,"Research & Report","More Than Fun and Games - Teaching Mathematics Through Games","Mathematical games support engagement, fluency, and conceptual understanding, yet research has often emphasized student outcomes while giving limited attention to how teachers plan and facilitate game-based instruction. This study examines the beliefs, motivations, and classroom practices of five primary teachers using research-informed mathematical games, comparing reported use frequency and purposes with the pedagogical potential described in the literature. Findings reveal substantial variation in enactment and highlight the need for intentional planning and facilitation to ensure games promote reasoning, discussion, and deep understanding.","More Than Fun and Games: Teaching Mathematics Through  \nGames  \nMichele Klooger  \nMonash University  \nReceived: April 2025 􀅗 Accepted: January 2026  \n© 2026 Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Inc.  \nMathematical games are valued for fostering engagement, fluency, and conceptual understanding. While research often focuses on student outcomes, less is known about how teachers plan and implement gamebased instruction. This study addresses that gap by examining the beliefs, motivations, and practices of five primary teachers using educationally rich games. Based on teacher interviews and observations, the study explores how frequently games are used, their purposes, and how classroom enactments align with the pedagogical potential described in the literature. Findings show substantial variation. Although all teachers reported using games to support learning, only two consistently enacted them to promote reasoning, discussion, and deep conceptual engagement. The others used games mainly for fluency and motivation, often emphasising accuracy in fact retrieval over mathematical thinking. The study underscores the need for intentional planning and facilitation to harness the full educational potential of games. It argues that access  \nto well-designed games are not enough; their impact depends on how they are used.  \nKeywords • mathematics teacher education research • mathematical games • conceptual understanding  \n• reasoning  \nIntroduction  \nGame-based learning in mathematics has gained considerable attention for its potential to engage students, promote fluency, and support conceptual understanding. Most of the research, however, has focussed on digital games and student outcomes, with comparatively little attention given to the role of teachers in planning, implementing, and facilitating these experiences. A recent systematic review by Russo et al. (2024) found that of 32 empirical studies on non-digital game-based learning in primary mathematics classrooms, 25 focused exclusively on students, six included students and teachers, and only one focused solely on teachers. As Russo and colleagues noted, “the voices of teachers are significantly under-represented in the research” (p. 16) . This is a critical oversight, as teachers are the ones making key instructional decisions, selecting appropriate games, adapting them to meet student needs, and guiding interactions and discussion during and following gameplay. Without a deeper understanding of teachers’ instructional choices, knowledge of game-based learning remains incomplete.  \nThis study addresses this gap by investigating the beliefs, motivations, planning, and facilitating practices of five primary school teachers as they implemented a set of research-informed mathematical games in their classrooms. Specifically, it explores how teachers use games as instructional tools: how frequently they use them, for what purposes, and how they plan and implement game-based lessons. It also examines teachers’ perceptions of the mathematical potential of the games they choose and whether they view these games as supporting the proficiencies associated with working mathematically, such as fluency, understanding, problem-solving, reasoning, and fostering positive dispositions toward mathematics and playing games.  \nTo better understand these instructional decisions, it is important to examine how mathematical games are currently used in primary classrooms and why teachers use them. This paper narrows its focus to explore how teachers’ beliefs, decisions, and classroom practices shape their use of mathematical games. The research questions guiding this study are:  \n1. How do teachers’beliefs and motivations shape their use of mathematical games in the classroom?  \n2. How do teachers’ implementation of game-based lessons reflect or differ from the pedagogical potential of games as teaching environments?  \nLiterature Review  \nTo investigate how these claims about game use play o","cbCaimzSt5rv9qQp","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimzSt5rv9qQp","pdf",345302,1,20,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n# Literature Review\n## Well-designed Mathematical Games\n## Frequency and Purpose of Games","[{\"question\":\"What gap does the study address about mathematical games in primary classrooms?\",\"answer\":\"The study addresses how teachers plan, implement, and facilitate game-based instruction, since prior research has mostly focused on student outcomes and not enough on teachers’ instructional decisions.\"},{\"question\":\"How are mathematical games defined in this study?\",\"answer\":\"Mathematical games are structured, rule-based activities where mathematical ideas are integral to gameplay, requiring meaningful choice, strategic decision-making, and interaction so success depends on engaging with the underlying mathematics.\"},{\"question\":\"What did the study find about how different teachers used games?\",\"answer\":\"All teachers used games to support learning, but only two consistently promoted reasoning, discussion, and deep conceptual engagement; others emphasized fluency and motivation, often prioritizing accuracy in fact retrieval over mathematical thinking.\"}]","More Than Fun and Games - Teaching Mathematics Through Games | PDF",1787337961,50,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":28},"more-than-fun-and-games-teaching-mathematics-through-games","",{"@graph":36,"@context":86},[37,54,69],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/more-than-fun-and-games-teaching-mathematics-through-games/136017/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-31","2026-08-21",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"What gap does the study address about mathematical games in primary classrooms?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"The study addresses how teachers plan, implement, and facilitate game-based instruction, since prior research has mostly focused on student outcomes and not enough on teachers’ instructional decisions.","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"How are mathematical games defined in this study?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"Mathematical games are structured, rule-based activities where mathematical ideas are integral to gameplay, requiring meaningful choice, strategic decision-making, and interaction so success depends on engaging with the underlying mathematics.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"What did the study find about how different teachers used games?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"All teachers used games to support learning, but only two consistently promoted reasoning, discussion, and deep conceptual engagement; 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