Math Racer 3.0 - Addition and Subtraction

Upon opening the app, children are presented with a user friendly interface and are able to begin practicing after just two clicks. On the first click they must select one of seven skills: the first four skills comprise of the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division); the next two options allow them to practice a combination of addition/subtraction, or multiplication/division; while the final feature combines all four operations.  The second click asks users to select the number of questions they wish to attempt: 10, 20, 50 or 100, after which they are given a three second countdown before questions appear!  Questions are presented as a multiple choice format with one correct answer and three incorrect.  This allows users to simply click their answer rather than fiddle entering numbers, thus speeding up mathematical recall.  In the bigger picture, this increases the exposure to mathematics, thus developing the user’s mathematical ability.  Upon completion users are encouraged to enter their name and record their scores on a leader board, allowing them to compare with other users of the device: friends, family, classmates or even globally (requires a log in to Game Centre).  They are also able to repeat the game, view answers or view any misses (incorrect answers).  

 

The entire app is focussed around speed and improvement: in addition to its simplicity, children are able to repeat games immediately and to view corrections as well as compare scores on the leader board.  This simplicity runs throughout the app, at the same time the presentation of mathematical questions is paramount, with one click answers giving users the ability to answer as many questions as possible in the minimal time.  Pedagogically, addition and subtraction questions are within 20, while multiplication and division are within the ten times tables.  The developers might consider allowing the user to control this level of difficulty too, appealing to a wider range of audiences, for example, younger children encountering their times tables for the first time.  The app recently set the world record for answering 100 random math problems in just 1 minute and 20 seconds!  

 

Overall, this app is worthy of a 5 star rating.  Highly engaging, stimulating and users are constantly challenged to improve their previous scores.