How Playing Games Can Help With Learning

People learn in various different ways. Some prefer to see things to understand them better. Some can comprehend more complex topics by hearing them. Others learn by getting stuck in and practicing.

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There is a lot of academic discussion on these learning styles, but the reality is that no one has one single preference. Rather, the best method varies from topic to topic. For example, if you’re learning to play the guitar, no amount of watching an instructor will improve your play if you don’t get to practice for yourself.

Instead, if you’re learning something new, it often works best to combine all three together. There are few ways that you can combine these together in a fun way, but one of them is by playing games.

Assessing Probabilities & Risk

Probabilities and risk can be difficult topics to learn if you don’t find that math comes naturally to you. Sometimes, they can also seem counter intuitive, particularly The Monty Hall Problem. In this, you’re asked to choose from three sealed boxes to try and find the prize (which is inside only one).

Once you’ve picked, one of the other two boxes are removed, leaving the prize box and one remaining empty box. You’re then asked if you’d like to swap your answer. In the Monty Hall Problem, by switching your answer you increase your chances of winning the prize from 33% to 50%.

This can be a difficult concept to understand. However, playing games can help. Some games require you to assess the probabilities of different outcomes before you make a decision. This is particularly true of card games like poker, where you must assess your hand and decide whether to fold. This is also the case when you play blackjack since you must decide whether to stick or hit based on the cards that they and the dealer have.

Playing these types of games can help improve your understanding of probabilities and better make assessments of risk.

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Improving Your Capacity for Learning

Sometimes, the games themselves don’t teach you a particular topic. Instead, they provide you with a better capacity to learn. Research in 2014 by the University of Toronto found that people who play fast-paced action games like Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed can increase your ability to learn new motors skills.

In the same way, anyone can play on game boxes crossword

This means playing such games could help with learning skills like riding a bike, typing, or even playing a musical instrument. The research didn’t find an immediate improvement in these skills, but the results suggest that people who play these games often have an increased ability to learn to complete new sensorimotor tasks.

Improve Your Vocabulary

Games like Scrabble and Words With Friends provide an opportunity for players to develop their vocabulary by learning new words that will help them score more points than their friends.

Scrabble games like Jumble Solver, Sudoku, Crossword and Words With Friends provide an opportunity for players to develop their vocabulary by learning new words that will help them score more points than their friends.

It’s not just the size of your vocabulary that matters with these games, but the ability to quickly recall them in relation to other words already on the board.

These games can also boost your creativity skills, as you’re required to only work with the letters on the tiles you have.

Numeracy Skills

Numeracy can be a vital skill in life. It helps with running your household, managing your finances, and saving for your future. Yet, for some people it can be a struggle.

Games can be a great way to develop your basic numeracy skills without having the pressure of a more formal learning environment. Star Dash Studios is a mobile game for Android and iOS that feels like many retro video games, requiring you to collect coins as you run along the map. There are number related challenges as you go, helping you learn and have fun.

Other games like Sumaze and KickBox are other good games to help develop numeracy skills. For the more advanced learner, classic games like Sudoku can also help.

Using games to help you learn can be a great way to make the experience fun and engaging while also involving all of the different learning styles together.