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Math Lessons

Page history last edited by Helga Brown 14 years, 7 months ago

Mathematics

 

  • Damage Per Second (DPS) Analysis (Download the Full Lesson - Word Format) - by Helga Brown - Aligned to NC Discrete Mathematics Standards
    • Acquire two different weapons in world used by your character's class.  Using the targetting dummies in a capital city, find the average damage over time of each weapon. Using Excel (sample Excel document that goes with lesson), analyze the data, then plot it on a graph.  Compare the data with a DPS meter like Recount. You can expand the lesson by trying the same experiment again, this time with gear that changes your character's agility, strength, attack power, or other melee-related statistic.  Analyze the new data.

 

  • Probability in Cloth Farming (Download the Full Lesson - Word Format) - by Helga Brown - Aligned to NC Middle School Mathematics Standards
    • Students will measure the drop rate of an item in-game (for this lesson we will use Frostweave Cloth) and then compare it with published probability charts. Then students will analyze the data they collected individually and as a class.

 

  • Buff Analysis:  Example - Which buff (a spell that enhances a character's abilities) is more effective for your character, Blessing of Kings or Blessing of Might?  Collect data at five different points during an encounter and graph them over time.  Why is one better than another?

     

  • Healing Analysis:  Which types of heals produce a greater number of recovered hit points during an encounter?  quick burst heals, slower more powerful heals, or heal-over-time spells?

     

  • Armor Analysis:  Compare various armor types with varying levels of AC (the statistic that determines how much damage a piece of armor negates).  Which is most/least effective?

     

  • Resistance Analysis:  Collect data during an encounter that involves a great deal of spell damage (fire, frost, arcane, etc.).  Collect data about the amount of damage done to your character throughout the fight.  Graph it.  Repeat the encounter with either a resistance spell or resistance armor for that particular fight.  How much was the overall damage reduced?

 

  • Comparing Data

    There are websites out there that actually give data for all of the things you have here. They basically say – this is the best spell rotation, talent spec, gear, etc…and then give data to back it up. What a great way to compare data found with that available. Also, how cool would it be for a student to contribute their own data to a site like this that gets a lot of views and is considered a very useful resource?

    http://elitistjerks.com/

     

     

This is a list of math problems  Helga came up with while proctoring a Geometry End of Course exam for four hours. She thumbed through a Algebra I book for inspiration.

 

 

Comments (5)

Linda said

at 12:30 pm on Jul 5, 2009

One of the first math experiences I had with my daughter in WoW was contemplating 2H versus dual wield on her warrior. I imagine there is a developmental sequence to these, along the lines of when you are likely to encounter them as you develop your character, and I wonder how well it maps onto a classic math learning sequence.

There are also interesting conceptual pieces in WoW, by that I mean, implicit support for a way of solving problems. I'm thinking of the target dummies in particular. They embody a notion that one can run experiments to find best solutions. I think this is an important skill that can be foregrounded, and not just for math.

Helga Brown said

at 9:39 am on Jul 7, 2009

@Linda - that is an excellent observation! It looks like WoW is encouraging experimentation through target dummies, and maybe even the new "one hour to return it after you buy it token system." With the 30min hearth cooldown now, I could see someone picking up an heirloom sword, going to a capital and testing it, then returning it for an heirloom axe, and testing that. Thanks for sharing =^.^=

Helga Brown said

at 11:15 am on Aug 6, 2009

I just had a brainstorm! I bet that someone could construct a whole course in Statistics (high school or college level) using World of Warcraft as the main resource for data collection. I'm sure people have already done similar with Second Life. They could set conduct surveys in-game and on websites...they could do massive probability experiments...they could do observational data collection...and best of all - they could compare data they collect with data already out there. They can compare across servers, realms, and zones. I think the possibilities are pretty endless!

Lucas Gillispie said

at 7:53 pm on Aug 6, 2009

Great idea... I'm sure that would have been much more engaging than the statistics course I took in college!

Maria Droujkova said

at 7:32 pm on Jan 17, 2010

I wanted to make a lesson on "geometry of pulls" for a while... Is it something of interest?

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