Academic Research Title:

Amazing Race: Tool on Learning

Mathematics Among Grade 10
Students in Montevista National
High School-Main
 OBJECTIVES:
This study aims to determine the following:

 level of students’ mathematical performance

using the traditional method;
 level of students’ mathematical performance
using the Amazing Race; and
 significant difference between students’
mathematical performance using traditional
method and Amazing Race.
Alternative Hypothesis
--There is a significant difference of the
students’ mathematical performance between
students who are exposed in the application of
amazing race and to the students who art not
exposed in any math games, just traditional
way of leaning mathematics among the Grade -
10 students in Montevista National High School
Main.
INTRODUCTION
Mathematics is possibly one of the most underappreciated
sciences. They don’t know that Mathematics is everywhere and it has
a wide range of useful applications in our daily living. However, in
education where students faced different topics in mathematics, there
are many students who did not value its importance because they
always questioned the application and uses of mathematics in our
lives. When they encountered higher mathematics that is really
complicated, they became more passive in the learning process
because they cannot relate to the topic.
According to Airth (2018) that sometimes, students find it
difficult to connect with a topic that seems foreign to them. We do
call math a language of its own. One great way to get students
excited about math is to make it personal to them. Getting them
actively involved in the learning process can lead to the greatest
learning, that which is done without even being aware of it
happening. Using math games, your students will work together in
active (and sometimes competitive) ways to practice their skills at
solving problems.
 Based on Nix (2018) a postdoctoral Research Fellow at Florida
College, for five years she taught grade eight in math, she had great
relationships with her students, delivered instruction in her own unique
way, and facilitated student learning. She always used games as a way to
review math concepts. She created a game entitled O.M.G Graphing
Inequalities for Grade 6-9 students. She feels great about the games they
play in class. She also refined many of her own games that are also
available in Free to Discover.
The Department of Education (DepEd) promoted “Damath”
which is coined from the Pinoy checkerboard game “dama” and
mathematics as a Filipino way of learning math. Learning math can be
made more interesting and easier for Filipino schools through a new
board game. DepEd said that in its unique way, the damath board game
ushers Filipino schools into the new millennium by equipping them with
competitive life-long learning for understanding and intercommunication
technology-fluency skills. In addition, the new board game blends local
culture, education and digital technology to make math teaching and
learning child-friendly, challenging and interactive.
 The researchers observed that most of the students have difficulties in
learning mathematics specifically during our Field Studies. They were students
who were sleepy and they did not listen carefully to the discussion. The students
did not participated actively and it looks like they hate the subject. As pre-service
teacher observing them that time, we were worried about the problems we
have experienced with them. The teacher must think deeply on how to make
Mathematics fun since most of the students’ perceptions about Mathematics
were negatives.
In that case, the researchers became interested in conducting a study on
how to solve the existing problems. The researchers created three (3)
mathematical games such as: A Road to Forever, Fix Me, I’m Broken!, The Faster,
The Better that would help the students in learning mathematics. Hence, this
study investigates the effectiveness of applying Mathematical Games in the
topics that we will be handling in our Practice Teaching among Grade 10
students in Montevista National High School-Main.
Furthermore, this study aims to encourage the Mathematics teacher to
become flexible in teaching Mathematics. Also, to become creative and
innovative in making activities or games which are relevant to the topics. This
study will be beneficial to the students. It will help them to become active
learners and to have an understanding about mathematical concepts and learn
mathematics in a fun and knowledgeable way. Also, this is beneficial to teachers.
Statement of the Problem

Learning Mathematics have remained to be one of the problems

for those students who are not motivated and interested to this subject
due to some negative perceptions and ideas on mathematics, wherein
some of the students are not that good in this subject. This study aims to
determine the effectiveness of three (3) specific mathematical games
applied on the topics to be handled by the researchers in their Field
studies 5 and 6.
Specifically, it seeks to answer these following questions:

1. What is the level of students’ mathematical performance using the

traditional method?
2. What is the level of students’ mathematical performance using the
Amazing Race?
3. Is there a significant difference between students’ mathematical
performance using traditional method and Amazing Race?
Research Design
The study will use quasi-experimental research design. This will
be involved two groups; the experimental group, wherein the
researchers will integrate the Amazing Race every after the discussion of
the lesson and for the control group, wherein the researchers will use
traditional method in delivering the lesson. A pre-test and post-test will
be used to determine the significant difference on the level of students’
mathematical performance in learning mathematics. The two classes
will be taught by the pre-service math teachers or the researchers
themselves.
Mike Allen (2017), quasi-experimental design (QEDs) is a type of
design commonly used in communication research. This type of design
allows researchers to have a moderate degree of control in establishing
causality and is usually used in the field, rather than a laboratory
setting. This entry begins with a discussion of experiments in
communication research in general and focuses on the QED in particular,
detailing its distinguishing features and common variations.
This research method will deal with the significant difference on
the level of students’ mathematical performances with the application
of Amazing Race in learning mathematics.
Research Respondents
The selection of the respondents will be based on the
Pre-test to be conducted to all Grade10 students of
Montevista National High School-Main. The students in
two (2) sections having the 33% or 1/3 lowest scores
after checking the pre-test will be the respondents. The
researchers will choose randomly the section for
experimental group and other section for control group.
Research Instruments
The research instruments that we will be using in this
study are Pre-test and Post-test examination. The lessons we will
be teaching in the experimental group and control group are
identical and parallel but they differ on how we discuss the topic.
The test questionaire contains 50 items test. The researchers will
make a test questionaire and the coverage for the testing will be
based on the topics that we will be discussing. The researchers
will apply the Amazing Race in Experimental group.

Amazing Race is composed of three (3) mathematical

games namely: A Road to Forever, Fix Me I’m Broken and The
Faster, The Better. These mathematical games are applicable to
all topics in mathematics. Every after the discussion of the topic,
the researcher will apply mathematical game. The Amazing Race,
specifically the aboved mentioned mathematical games are
originally created by the researchers.
 A Road to Forever
 There are 6 teams in a class.
 The facilitator will roll the dice. The number from 1-6 in the dice represent
each team.
 At the beginning, whatever number will be shown on the top of the dice will
have the chance to choose a number from 1-60. Each number contains one
problem but there are 6 numbers that contains “Bonus”, that means they
can proceed to another block without answering a particular problem.
 The representative of each team who will get the answer first will have the
chance to choose a number for the next question. If the answer is wrong,
the facilitator will roll the dice and whatever number will be shown on the
top of the dice will have the chance to choose a number for the next
question.
 Every correct answer of the team, they can proceed to another block
depending on the number of steps written on the block until he/she will
reach the finish line. For Example, If (+2 or +1), that means forward twice or
once for correct answers only but if (-2 or -1), that means backward twice or
once for wrong answers only.
 If the first representative will reach the finish line, the next representative of
the team will proceed next and do the game, and so on and so fourth.
 If all the members of a team will reach the finish line first will be the
WINNER.
 The winner will get 30 points and the rest is 20 points.
Fix Me, I’m Broken!
 There are 3 teams in this game.
 Each representative of the teams will undergo in 2 stations.
 In Station 1, they will execute what they have picked and then, if they
perform it correctly, they will pick a problem.
 In station 2, they will answer the problem they have picked. If they
got the correct answer, they will picked one scrambled paper in a
box.
 If the answer is wrong, they will go back to station 1 until they got
the correct answer.
 If one of the representatives of each team will not get the correct
answer 2 times, he/she will go back to his team without a scrambled
paper and the next representative will go next.
 After they got all the scrambled papers, they will arrange it and
come up with a sentence. They will choose one representative to go
to the board and will write the sentence they have completed.
 The first team who will write the sentence in the board correctly will
be the WINNER and will receive 30 points. The rest of the teams will
receive 20 points.
The Faster, The Better
 There are 5 teams in this game.
 There are 3 rounds: Easy round, Average round and Difficult round.
 In easy round, each question will be answered by two representatives in each
team. The questions are simple and basics.
 The first representatives who will get the correct answer will proceed to another
seat and another two representatives will answer the next question.
 The first team who will reach the finish line will get 10 points. The rest of the
teams will get 5 points.
 In average round, the process is the same with easy round but the questions are
complex and the first team who will reach the finish line will get 15 points and
the rest will get 8 points.
 In difficult round, all of the members of each team will help each other to answer
the final questions. The final questions are more complex than the questions in
easy and average round.
 If the team who raise first the answer but their answer is wrong, they don’t have
the chance to answer the next question. The first team who will answer the
question correctly will receive 20 points and the rest will receive 10 points.
 The team who get the highest points they earned from easy to difficult round
will be the Winner.
Statistical Tool
The data will be analysed through the use of the T-Test by William
Sealy Gosset. To be more specific, the researcher will use Independent-
mean t-test also known as an Independent measures. It is used to
compare two groups, the experimental and control group. This test
will determine the significant difference between students in
experimental group who are exposed in the application of Amazing Race
and to those students in control group who do not. The mean is used to
determine the total results of the group.
Mean. This is used to determine the level of students’
mathematical performance in learning mathematics using the Amazing
Race and Traditional Method.
t-test. This is used to determine the significant difference of
Amazing Race and Traditional Method.
In order to arrive at definite interpretation of each scale, the
researcher used a descriptive rating scale for the hypothetical mean
range:
Range Scale Verbal Description Interpretation

Respondents are able to

understand the discussion about
41-50 Outstanding the topics and solve all the
problems correctly or there are
just few missing parts in the
solution process or in the final
answer.

Respondents are able to

31-40 Very Good understand some of the
discussion about the topics and
solve few of the problems
incorrectly.

Respondents have lesser

understanding of the discussion
21-30 Good about the topics and solve some
of the problems incorrectly.

Respondents have limited

11-20 Average understanding of the discussion
about the topics and solve more
than half of the problems
incorrectly.

Respondents have unclear

1-10 Poor understanding in the discussion
of the topics and did not get the
correct solution of the problem.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter presents the results
and findings of the study, the
personal reflection conveyed by the
researchers, discussion of the results
and its implications to educational
setting.
Level of Students’ Mathematical
Performance
The table 1 shows the level of
students’ mathematical performance
of experimental group which used of
the Amazing Race and the control
group which used Traditional
Method.
Table 1.
Level of Students’ Mathematical Performance in Learning Mathematics

Mean Level Description

Respondents are able to
understand the discussion
about the topics and solve
all the problems correctly
Amazing Race 41.78 Outstanding
or there is just missing part
in the solution process or
in the final answer.

Respondents are able to

understand some of the
discussion about the topics
Traditional Method 31.25 Very Good
and solve few of the
problems incorrectly.
 The experimental group which used the Amazing Race
gets the mean of 41.78 and it remarks as Outstanding while the
control group which used Traditional Method gets the mean of
31.25 and it remarks as Very Good.
The experimental group used the Amazing Race in
Learning Mathematics gets the remarks of Outstanding which
implied that the respondents are able to understand the
discussion about the topics and solve all the problems correctly or
there is just missing in the solution process or in the final answer.
Also, this group shows better performance to the class.
If the students are more exposed to the traditional way in
learning mathematics, it reflects their level of mathematical
performance. Based on the scores of control group in the post test
exam, they get the lower rate since they only understand some of
the discussion about the topics and solve few problems
incorrectly because traditional method is being utilized during the
discussion of the topics.
 On the other hand, the experimental group gets the higher
scores and remark as Outstanding. It shows that the students
understand and solve problems since Amazing Race is being
applied during the discussion.
Furthermore, the results show that the Amazing Race
being applied to the experimental group is more effective as a tool
in learning mathematics. Also, it gives opportunities to the
students to develop their mathematical understanding, problem-
solving and encourage them to explore important mathematical
concepts.
According to Rutherford (2015), engaging mathematical
games can also encourage students to explore number
combinations, place value, patterns, and other important
mathematical concepts. Further, they afford opportunities for
students to deepen their mathematical understanding, solving and
reasoning. Teachers should provide repeated opportunities for
students to play games, and then let the mathematical ideas
emerge as students notice new patterns, relationships, and
strategies.
 Quinn and Iverson (N.D) argued that students “need to be engaged
more and to be put at the centre of the learning experience to change from
passive vessel to active participant. In addition with Rutherford (2015) states
that playing games encourages strategic mathematical thinking as students find
different strategies for solving linear equations, quadratics expressions, word
problems, etc. and deepen their understanding of numbers. When played
repeatedly, games support students’ development of computational fluency.
In addition, according to Reed et.al (2018), Math games provide a
structure and process for learners to engage in problem solving in order to reach
a particular goal or objective. They also added that games are an ideal vehicle
for learners to practice persistence and problem solving as they try out new
strategies and encounter difficulties. They can see what works and why, and try
again without the pressure of doing it right. Teachers can support the
development of learner’s persistence at challenging games and of their
confidence as problem solvers.
Since the respondents of this study were from the Grade 10 students of
Montevista National High School-Main, it is then their privilege to experience the
application of Amazing Race as a tool in order for them to learn mathematics.
This result shows that the experimental group which the Amazing Race is being
applied can learn better compare to the control group which Traditional method
is being used to discussion the topics.
Difference between Measures
Table 2 shows that there is a significant difference in the scores of control
group and experimental group. Based on the result that being stated, the
experimental group performed better in learning mathematics than the
control group. Therefore, the result shows that the Grade 10 students learn
better if Amazing Race is being applied as a tool during the discussion of
the
topics.
Table 2.
Test Of Significant Difference In Amazing Race and Traditional Method
Mean t-computed t - critical Decisions at Description
H1
There is a significant difference
Amazing 41.78 -10.79 1.99 Accept of the students’ mathematical
Race performance between students
who are exposed in the
application of Amazing Race
and to the students who are
Traditional 31.25 not exposed in any math
Method games, just traditional way of
learning mathematics among
the Grade 10 students of
Montevista National High
School-Main.
 The experimental group gets the t value or t computed -10.79
which is less than t critical of 1.99. Thus, the decision bring on to accept
the alternative hypothesis or shows significant difference of the
students’ performance between students exposed in the application of
the amazing race and to the students who are not expose in any math
games, just traditional way of learning mathematics among the Grade
10 students of Montevista National High School-Main.
It was stated in the News Center by Parker (2015) that
according to Professor Jo Boaler, students learn math best when they
work on problems they enjoy, rather than exercises and drills they fear.
They learned best in mathematics when they approach the subject as
something they enjoy. Speed pressure, timed testing and blind
memorization pose high hurdles in the pursuit of math. In addition with
her statement, students are motivated if they feel enjoyment towards
the subject.
 However, he also added that as teacher we need to ensure that they
are not just enjoying the subject but also they learn from it. It is not good if
they just always feel fun with the subject without considering if they still
learning.
In connection, the result of the study was opposed to the research of
the University of Manchester (2012). It was stated that Traditional Teaching
methods still dominant in math classrooms. Twenty-first century math
lessons in English secondary schools are generally much like those of decades
ago, with the teacher standing at the front of the class asking questions and
opportunities for students to relate the subject to their real lives relatively
sparse.
On the other hand, to the results of this study, it shows a significant
difference of the mean rank of 41.78 of the experimental group and the
control group with the mean rank of 31.25. This means that the experimental
group understands the discussion of topics for math subject because of the
Amazing Race being applied as a tool in learning mathematics. In this result,
it uses the Independent-mean t-test also known as an Independent measures.
It is used to compare two groups, the experimental and control group. The
two groups determine its difference through the result of the mean and t-
test.
 The results of this table were based on the post-test that
conducted after the three topics being discussed. The decision at
alternative hypothesis which is accepted means that the result of
the test shows significant difference between the Amazing Race
and Traditional Method.
Based on the experienced of Anderson (2016), playing
mathematics games encourages strategic thinking, solving
equation and word problems and develops fluency. They give the
chance for students to apply their learning in a different context
and the opportunity to explain and discuss the mathematics
involved with their peers - often without fear of failure. It
supports the result that the students solve well and understand
the topics being discussed because the Amazing Race as a tool
was being applied.
 Findings,
Conclusions and
Recommendation
Findings
The following significant findings were drawn from the study.

1. The Grade 10 students’ level of Mathematical Performance in the

application of the Amazing Race as a tool is Outstanding since the
result shows that the experimental group gets the mean of 41.78.
The students are able to understand the discussion and solve math
problems.
2. The Grade 10 students’ Mathematical Performance in Traditional
Method is Very Good since the result shows that the control group
gets the mean of 31.25. The students only understand some of the
discussion and solve few math problems incorrectly.
3. The study shows the result that there is a significant in the scores of
control group and experimental group since the t value or t
computed is -10.79 which is less than to the t critical of 1.99.
Conclusion
In view of the findings of this study, the following conclusions were
drawn:
1. The level of the students’ mathematical performance in the
experimental group is higher compare to the control group. When the
students are exposed to Amazing Race, it helps them learn better the
topics and they also perform better in the class and solve math
problems actively.
2. The level of students’ mathematical performance in the control group is
lesser than the experimental group. Since the control group used the
Traditional Method in learning mathematics. When the students are not
exposed to Amazing Race and other math games, they only learn some
of the discussion and solve few of the math problems incorrectly.
3. There is a significant difference between the students’ level of
mathematical performance using the Amazing Race and Traditional
Method since the t value or t computed is -10.79 which is less than to the
t-critical of 1.99.
4. The Grade 10 students in the experimental group learn mathematics
better because of the Amazing Race being applied as a tool.
Recommendations
In this modern era of improving our educational system in the Philippines, the
educators are challenged to face the new curriculum implemented and mandated to
secure the new trends, enhance and develop the curriculum locally for a better quality
education.
Based on the results of the study, the researchers came up with the following
recommendations:
1. Math teachers are encouraged to apply mathematical games in teaching
Mathematics in order to help students to learn better and become active learners.
Also, it is in line with the new curriculum where in the focus is on the performance-
based which means that applying math games would be a great tool to make
mathematics fun to learn at the same time they could learn well and perform in
mathematics meaningfully.
2. In applying mathematics game, Math teachers must choose or create math games
that are appropriate and suited to the topics and in lined with the learning
outcomes. If possible, create math games that can be used mostly to the topics in
Mathematics.
3. It would be more helpful if they could make a module containing different
mathematical games that are applicable to the topics in mathematics that are
relevant and effective in learning the subject.
4. Educators who will apply mathematical games must ensure that the learners are
not just enjoying the math games but also, they must monitor that the learners are
really acquiring knowledge from it.