- What is Fantasy Sports and Mathematics?
Fantasy Sports and Mathematics are math programs that are based on the popular fantasy sports games. The programs are for grades five and up, and include a teacher resource guide and a student workbook for each of the four major sports: football, baseball, basketball, and soccer. Each teacher resource guide includes lesson plans, a pre- and posttest, student handouts, 46 practice worksheets, 46 matching quizzes, and examples of graphs and box scores (i.e., statistical recaps of games). In addition, the books contain step-by-step instructions on how to play the games, as well as over 100 scoring systems that allow the content to be customized according to the skill level of students. Each program addressees nine national math standards and over 50 national math expectations.
- How do you play Fantasy Sports and Mathematics?
Fantasy sports are games in which students draft and manage fantasy teams of professional athletes, who earn points based on their statistics from the real games. The students’ fantasy teams compete against each other with the goal being to accumulate the greatest number of points. Students track their teams’ progress by reading box scores in newspapers or online. Each week, students compute the points earned by their players and construct a variety of graphs based on their teams' performance. Moreover, practice worksheets can be integrated throughout the game to reinforce concepts.
- What are the benefits of using fantasy sports in learning environments?
There are many aspects of fantasy sports that make for a perfect fit for students. First, the games promote a student-centered environment rather than a teacher-led classroom. Students can make trades, draft any players they wish, and decide on their starting lineups each week. This autonomy is something that adolescents crave, yet often don’t get much of. They control their teams, and they enjoy the feeling of power that comes with managing a franchise. This independence helps them to build their decision-making skills, thus contributing to their social and cognitive development.
Fantasy Sports and Mathematics can simplify the transition into the abstract world of algebra. Once students understand how to compute points using a non-algebraic method, teachers have the option of introducing linear equations that include variables. Fantasy sports are also dynamic hands-on programs. The inclusion of newspapers, technology, and graphing activities addresses all learning modalities. Several worksheets are designed to be used in conjunction with a graph so learning is maximized for learning-disabled students as well as visual learners. In addition, fantasy sports are compelling because they bring out students’ natural competitive instincts. Students are motivated to do the math because they want to find out how their teams performed compared to their peers. Moreover, the games are based on real-world data, and students can follow their players on television, in newspapers, or online. This allows them to make connections between math at school and math in the real world; research indicates that learning is facilitated when this occurs. Finally, if you ask students to name their favorite aspect of fantasy sports, they’ll tell you that it’s fun.
- What types of educational settings are a good fit for Fantasy Sports and Mathematics?
Any educational environment can benefit from fantasy sports. These include public and private schools, alternative schools, charter schools, home schools, after-school clubs, international schools, military schools, adult schools, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA, youth sports’ organizations, youth education programs, jails, and summer school programs, as well as developmental and math methods courses in higher education.
- What types of concepts can students practice with the fantasy sports programs?
Some of the concepts addressed include ratio and proportion, area and perimeter, mean, median, mode, and range, and operations with fractions, decimals, and whole numbers. Additional concepts include functions, summations, factorials, positive exponents, negative exponents, area and circumference of circles, scientific notation, linear equations, absolute value, and data depiction, as well as several worksheets that deal with percentages.
- How do girls respond to Fantasy Sports and Mathematics?
I was initially concerned the game would marginalize girls. However, once the game began I was pleasantly surprised because girls were as successful and had as much fun as boys. The girls got a kick out of being successful in fields that have traditionally been dominated by males.
There are two facets to fantasy sports that promote equality. The first is the salary cap. Students are given imaginary money to purchase their players. In theory, if two students spend all of their money then the quality of their teams is equal. The second equalizer in fantasy sports is old-fashioned luck. Anything can happen in the world of fantasy sports and usually does.
- Is it difficult for teachers who are not sports fans to implement the programs?
I designed the programs to make them as user-friendly as possible, especially for teachers who don’t follow sports. As a result, the programs are comprehensive. Each teacher resource guide contains over 200 pages. The feedback I’ve received from teachers and parents is that the books are well-written and the programs are easy to implement in the classroom.
- Are support tools available for educators and parents who purchase a fantasy sport program?
Yes. Email support is currently available on this website. In addition, a blog, podcast, and message board will be available here in the coming months. The message board will enable teachers and parents to share ideas and questions.
- What inspired you to create Fantasy Sports and Mathematics?
I taught middle school mathematics in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1990’s. At that time, I had been playing fantasy sports for 10 years. I realized that in order to maximize student interest, I needed to use curriculum that students could actually relate to. I’ve always believed that sports statistics represent a powerful tool for teaching mathematics, and my intuition led me to believe that math and sports statistics could dovetail into meaningful curriculum that could engage and motivate students. Consequently, I developed fantasy sports curriculum and used it in my classroom. It was the most successful curriculum I used in 11 years of teaching math.
I wrote the first book (Fantasy Football and Mathematics) as part of a thesis project for a graduate degree at Humboldt State University in 2002. As part of the project, several teachers piloted the material, and I refined the program based on their feedback.
- What has been the response to Fantasy Sports and Mathematics?
The response has exceeded my wildest dreams. Educators and parents throughout the U.S. and Canada have informed me that their students (and the students’ parents) love the games. Many teachers said they’ve never seen their students so excited about math, and several teachers report that fantasy sports has led to higher test scores, increased attendance, and/or higher grades.
- Who publishes the books, and where can they be purchased?
The books are currently self-published and available for purchase on this site until the end of 2006. New books will be published by Jossey-Bass in March 2007 and can be purchased now at Amazon.com and Jossey-Bass.com, as well as other outlets.
- What is your philosophy of education?
One of the tenants of my philosophy of education is that the most important outcome for students is to be lifelong learners. This outcome is easier if students can acquire a love (or at the very least, an interest) in the subject matter. This task is more attainable if students are able to make connections between math at home at math at school, and these connections are facilitated if curriculum is based on real-world data that can be linked to students’ previous experience.
This is particularly important for students in inner-cities, as their experiences don’t often match the content found in traditional math textbooks. I developed the programs from a social justice perspective, as my intention was to help motivate marginalized urban youth so they can help themselves to break out of the poverty cycle.
- What’s the one message you want to get out?
The dropout rate in our schools is staggering. Our first priority should be to get students to come to school. Once students are at school, they need to be motivated and engaged. Consequently, there needs to be more of a systemic focus on developing curriculum that links to students’ lives. I share the belief of many educators that the use of fantasy sports in learning environments can help to motivate students and increase attendance, thereby increasing the retention rate and possibly even saving lives as a result.
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