Math is magic: an adaptive serious game to reinforce math competences

Mathematics is one of the basic competencies that pupils should acquire during primary schools. The European Commission has included math in the Key competencies for Lifelong Learning that every EU citizen must acquire for personal fulfilment and develop- ment, employment, and active citizenship. Very often lacks math skills are due to the method used to teach math since childhood. Currently, different educational technologies have been implied to improve the learning process, making it more engaging and moti- vating. Serious games (SG) have been proved can be an excellent tool for acquiring and reinforcing math competencies by combining mathematical questions with game challenges. The paper presents a serious game, named Math is magic, designed specifically to ad- dress these shortcomings in primary school children. A user test was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the application, the cognitive workload, and user engagement. The data confirms that pupils improve their math skills and that the game approach was engaging and immersive.