Math Workshop offers seven activities that involve geometry, logic, whole number computation, and fractions. The activities range from compelling, challenging, and mathematically rich puzzles to tedious on-line computational drills with somewhat violent animations. A stapstick tone pervades much of Math Workshop. If the children who will be using this program are unlikely to be distracted by this tone (or an adult is present to help them focus on the math), some of the activities can provide worthwhile mathematical experiences.

Three of the four geometry activities (The Puzzle Pattern Game, Hidden Picture, and Super Sticklers) engage children in the important mathematics of reasoning about rotations, reflections, symmetry, visual patterns, and area. For instance, in The Puzzle Pattern Game, children reassemble a picture that has been cut into eight rectangles. The pictures are complex: they contain intricate repeating patterns, geometric designs, figures that are mirror images of one another, arrangements of colorful dots, and groups of objects such as flowers that differ only slightly from one another. The only clue is a thin outer border of the picture. Completing the puzzle can be quite challenging, as the puzzle pieces sometimes differ only in subtle ways, and some of them are not in the correct orientation (children can rotate them before inserting them in the puzzle). Since there is no feedback after each piece is inserted, children need to carefully consider whether the pieces inserted so far are appropriately placed. This can involve working with symmetry, spatial relationships, patterns, and other important areas of geometry.

The only feedback comes at the end. As soon all the pieces have been inserted correctly, some parts of the puzzle perform a short (and frequently, slapstick) animation. There are some difficulties with the animations: They are supposed to serve as a "reward" for solving the puzzle correctly, which gives children the message that solving a challenging and complex mathematical puzzle is not rewarding in itself. Also, they sometimes change the image on the puzzle so that children can no longer view the same picture they worked so hard to assemble.

In the Puzzle Pattern Game and the other two geometry puzzle activities, children choose from three levels of difficulty and from several puzzles at each level. Even at the easiest level, some puzzles are difficult; many puzzles will be challenging to older children and adults as well. If possible, an adult should be available initially to offer some guidance, to help children attend to visual details in the puzzle, and to help children develop strategies for tackling the puzzle on their own. For instance, adults might ask questions such as: What pattern does the border at the top of the picture show? What comes after the fish? is it facing to the left or to the right? Can you find a piece that matches the lower left corner of the border? Do you need to rotate the piece to get it to fit? How can you be sure that you've put the piece in the right place?

Two of the remaining four activities, while not as mathematically strong as the geometry puzzle activities, nonetheless offer some worthwhile mathematical experiences. Pattern Windows is an open-ended activity in which children can create colorful "tilings" of geometric shapes. >Rockets is an on-screen version of the classic game of mathematical strategy, Nim. This is a game for two players: children can play with a (real live) partner, or with the on-screen hostess of the program, Polly. Players begin with a certain number of rockets (e.g., 21). On each turn, a player chooses 1, 2, 3, or 4 rockets to "blast off." The player who releases the final set of rockets wins. Traditionally, this game is played with objects such as stones, toothpicks, or pennies--with each player taking away some of these on a turn. Here, the rocket metaphor can be distracting: the rockets blast off to the accompaniment of loud noises and animations. Some children might play the game simply for the fun of blasting off the rockets, without much understanding of the game. Others might want to focus on the math but find the rocket animations annoying and time-consuming. In any event, an adult presence to explain the game and encourage reasoning about best moves can be helpful.

The other two activities Bowling and Rhythm Shop, offer little mathematically. Bowling consists of multiple-choice computation and estimation problems. A problem appears on the screen, and children choose one of four answers. If they are correct, a bowling pin appears in the alley. If they are not correct, the right choice flashes briefly (so briefly it's easy to miss), and a new problem and set of possible solutions appear. When enough pins have been accumulated, a gorilla bowls them down--while the appealing and helpless pins scream in terror as the bowling ball approaches. This unhappy ending serves as a "reward" for correct answers. If children are to learn any math from a multiple choice worksheet such as this one, they need a chance to revisit the problem once they are told they are incorrect: they might try again, or, knowing the correct answer, they might go back and consider how one might arrive at it. The pace of this activity does not offer a chance for either of these. In fact, children could approach this activity simply with random guesses.

The remaining activity, Rhythm Shop, aims to provide practice adding fractions and finding fraction equivalencies in a rhythm context. The interface is cumbersome and difficult to navigate; the connections between the fractions and the rhythms are obscure; and the activity is structured so that children need to follow a complex series of steps in order to complete each problem. As a result, those children who can make enough sense of the activity structure and interface to answer the problem can't just simply type in the answer. They first must do a series of tasks that may seem irrelevant.

Is the Game Equitable?

Math Workshop is not appropriate for children likely to be uncomfortable with or distracted by slapstick humor. For instance, one girl who used this program was reluctant to click on the "Help" button because of the animation it performs. When the (cute and smiling) Help button is clicked, it screams "Help!" in a particularly distressed way before offering help. This girl avoided the button, since she hated to see it so upset. Likewise, she was disturbed by the animation that follows the successful completion of a dinosaur puzzle in the geometry activity Super Sticklers. After a short explanation of theories of dinosaur extinction, a meteorite comes down from the sky, bonks the friendly-looking dinosaur on the head, and knocks it out. Although the aggression in the program will no doubt amuse some children, some of these children may focus more on this aggression than the math. Adults may want to think carefully about whether they want children working with a program that uses violence as a "reward" for solving math problems correctly.

In some ways, the program does make an effort to address the needs of a range of learners. Most of the activities contain no characters, so gender and ethnicity issues are largely avoided. Polly, the hostess of the program, is a female of color. There is no time pressure, so children can work collaboratively with an adult or another child, and most activities are designed so that there is plenty of time to discuss solutions and strategies. Unfortunately, the program offers little for children who want or need much in the way of explicit instructions or feedback. The Help button offers general information about the activity, but little other guidance.

Is it a Good Game?

One quality of a good game is that it offers opportunities for engagement and challenge over time. The three geometry puzzle activities (The Puzzle Pattern Game, Hidden Picture, and Super Sticklers), have the potential to provide long-term appeal as children's strategies grow. Not only can children choose from among three levels of difficulty for each of these activities, since puzzle pieces are randomly generated each time, children can play again and again without repeating the same puzzle. Children can choose which activities to work on, so they can focus on those that they find most interesting.

Other activities are much less likely to offer opportunities for long-term engagement. For instance, while some children may initially want to play Bowling repeatedly to watch the violent animation at the end, the activity structure offers little chance for children to develop and reflect on their mathematical strategies. Ultimately, they will probably tire of watching the animation and will find the activity itself uninteresting. On the other hand, if children become captivated by the math in Rockets, they may tire of the rocket animations that slow down the game.