Recreational Mathematics – Only For Fun?

Ducci’s Four-Number Game: Making Sense of a Classic Problem Using Mobile Simulation

“…The mobile Ducci Four-Number App allows students to experiment with their ideas without the tedious calculation and further establish an empirical probability distribution. Quadruples of long lengths, albeit extremely rare, give students a strong sense of discovery especially in a social setting where students play, share, and discuss their mathematical discoveries [20].…”

“…While games and puzzles are frequently used in extracurricular settings such as homes, math clubs, or science centers, they have also been recognized as pedagogically powerful for stimulating mathematical reasoning and cultivating a healthy mindset among children in formal schooling [3]. In a playful setting, games and puzzles invite students to take intellectual excursions into the world of mathematical thinking, where they create their own ideas, change directions, make unexpected findings, feel their emotional ups and downs, and, more often than not, pose new problems [20]. For the curious minds, there are a host of resources that are accessible to students at all levels (e.g., [9]).…”

The potential of recreational mathematics to support the development of mathematical learning

“…Recreational mathematics has a history as old as formal mathematics, with examples found on the oldest mathematical texts such as the Rhind papyrus and Babylonian tablets [11]. We do not know whether these were playful diversions or an interaction between recreational and 'serious' mathematics, but there are certainly more recent examples of recreational problems acting as stimulus for non-recreational topics [17].…”

The Importance of Surprise in Mathematical Beauty

“…However, this affective side of learning mathematics, one facet being that mathematics is satisfying in and of itself, has been relatively ignored and is an underresearched area [18,19]. U.S. policy documents do not reference the affective side of learning mathematics [23].…”