Operation MathLog - a progress report

An internet-based EFL maze for logical-mathematical learners
By Rolf Palmberg, Åbo Akademi University, Vaasa, Finland

Background and aim

Operation MathLog is an internet-based EFL maze designed for logical-mathematical learners, i.e. learners who are particularly fond of logical reasoning and numbers (Gardner 1993, 1999). More specifically, such “logic smart” and “number smart” learners (Armstrong 1999) typically enjoy tasks that involve solving problems, finding patterns, completing brain teasers, asking ‘why’ questions, conducting experiments, learning about how things work, working with numbers, categorising, and sorting (Christison 2005). Other suitable exercises within an EFL context are crosswords and word grids (Berman 2002).

The main purpose of Operation MathLog is to increase learners’ knowledge and understanding of English vocabulary. Aimed at the type of learner described above, the selection of language tasks includes anagrams, acronyms, word search grids, word chop exercises, riddles, arranging tasks, categorisation tasks, enclosures, spotting the odd man out, cryptograms, problem-solving tasks, and combinations of these.

The aim of the present paper is to explain the rationale behind Operation MathLog and to report on the phases it has undergone so far.

Accessing Operation MathLog

The first twelve tasks of Operation MathLog were published on the internet in December 2005, when a CALL website for EFL teachers (Palmberg 2000-2006) was provided with a hyperlink to the opening web page of the maze (Palmberg 2005). At the same time, five counters from AddFreeStats were added to select web pages of the maze to keep track of the number of visitors.

At the time of writing, Operation MathLog consists of about twenty language tasks, each occupying a web page of its own. The only website address (or URL) available to learners is that of the opening web page of the maze. In order to proceed, learners must first solve the task presented on that web page. They must then take the keyword that constitutes the solution to the task and replace the word ‘mathlog’ in the URL of the opening web page with the new keyword. The same principle applies throughout the maze: the word that constitutes the solution to a given task is the new keyword that must be entered into the URL instead of the previous keyword.

All instructions are given on the opening web page, and potential players/learners are advised to keep diaries and make notes of the name, the type of exercise, and especially the keyword for each task. There are no help functions, and learners may occasionally come across tasks that they find difficult to solve. Truly logical-mathematical learners may then try to locate remaining tasks by using their knowledge of computer technology instead. In order to prevent computerised search, or at least make things more difficult for potential hackers, there are no easily guessable keywords in the URLs. For the same reason, all web pages (other than the opening web page) have deliberately been left ‘orphan’, meaning that there are no hyperlinks to direct learners to other web pages.

At the beginning of January 2006, major search engines such as AllTheWeb, AltaVista and Google gave two hits when searching for ‘operation mathlog’ (the opening web page of the maze and the CALL website referred to above). Luckily, the search engines didn’t (and still don’t) find any of the orphan web pages although the pages contain the title of the maze.

Increasing the availability of Operation MathLog

During the first four months of 2006, the opening web page of the maze was accessed by more than 30 different IP addresses (not including visits made from computers hosted by the Faculty of Education at ?bo Akademi University) representing about 20 different countries. Similarly, the second web page (the one immediately following the opening web page) was accessed by a dozen IP addresses representing almost as many different countries. Not unexpectedly, the latter IP addresses had also been registered by the counter on the opening web page.

The three remaining counters, however, had no registered visits at all. As it was felt important to know exactly which specific task (or tasks) had constituted the greatest obstacle(s) to visitors, it was decided that all web pages of the maze (not just a selection) be provided with counters.

Up to the end of April, information about the maze had been available to the general public only through the CALL website referred to above and a paper published in CALL Review (Palmberg 2006a). In order to make the maze known to a wider audience and thereby increasing the number of visitors, an abstract promoting the maze was published on the Linguistic Funland TESOL.net web page at the end of April. Two months later, in June, a more detailed version of the paper was presented at an international conference organised by the Korea Association of Teachers of English in Seoul and published in the Conference Proceedings (Palmberg 2006b).

Problems and prospects

Visitors registered by a given AddFreeStats counter on a given web page must, at least in theory, have seen and solved all preceding language tasks. The number of visitors registered on a given web page must therefore be smaller the further away a given counter (on a given web page) is from the opening web page. To put it differently, the number of visitors is expected to drop gradually from the opening web page towards the final web page of the maze.

Since the beginning of May, the opening web page of the maze has been visited by an average of two visitors per day (in addition to visits made from computers hosted by ?bo Akademi University). A substantial increase in the number of visitors is therefore required before tentative answers can be found for questions such as the following:

• Which hyperlinks (if any) do visitors follow to get to the opening web page of the maze?
• What countries do visitors come from?
• How far towards the final web page do visitors proceed?
• What is the average dropout rate from task to task?
• Which task(s) produce(s) the highest number of dropouts?

Difficulty levels obviously differ from task to task and an order of increasing difficulty would in theory be a good solution. In practice, however, such an order of increasing difficulty is very hard to establish. A task that is perceived as difficult by one learner may be perceived as easy by somebody else, and vice versa. Arranging tasks into an order of increasing difficulty is also complicated by the fact that the structure of the maze (as the name implies) is not linear.

The maze also contains so-called checkpoint tasks, the main purpose of which is to make sure that learners have in fact solved all previous tasks. For example, when learners in a specific task are required to choose one of two possible routes, they will, at later stage, having solved a so-called checkpoint task, end up taking the other route. In another checkpoint task, learners are given questions that cannot be answered without the knowledge gained from previous tasks.

On the final web page of the maze, visitors are requested to send an email message to the author. They are asked to make comments on individual tasks and to reveal whether they did in fact solve all language tasks or whether they used alternative ways to arrive at the final web page. Furthermore, they are invited to submit additional tasks to be included in the maze, an activity that (if they take up the gauntlet) will not only increase their knowledge of English vocabulary but also develop their general language awareness and critical thinking abilities.

Operation MathLog can be accessed at:
http://www.vasa.abo.fi/users/rpalmber/mathlog.htm


References

Armstrong, T. (1999). 7 Kinds of Smart: Identifying and Developing Your Many Intelligences. New York: Plume Books.

Berman, M. (2002). A Multiple Intelligences Road to an ELT Classroom. Carmarthen: Crown House Publishing. Second edition.

Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple Intelligences. The Theory in Practice. New York: Basic Books.

Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence Reframed. Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century. New York: Basic Books.

Palmberg, R. (2000-2006). Downloadable computer programs for EFL. http://www.vasa.abo.fi/users/rpalmber/download.htm

Palmberg, R. (2005). Operation MathLog. http://www.vasa.abo.fi/users/rpalmber/mathlog.htm

Palmberg, R. (2006a). “Catering for mathematical-logical EFL learners.” CALL Review (Spring 2006) (pp 32-34).

Palmberg, R. (2006b). “Operation MathLog - an internet-based EFL maze for mathematical-logical learners”. In 2006 International Conference. Beyond the Horizon: Extending the Paradigm of TEFL (pp 91-94). Seoul 2006: The Korea Association of Teachers of English.

© Rolf Palmberg 2006
Rolf Palmberg is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Teacher Education at Abo Akademi University in Vaasa, Finland, where he has taught EFL methodology since 1979. His publications comprise articles, reports, books and bibliographies in the fields of applied linguistics and foreign language teaching. He has given presentations at international conferences in several countries and numerous in-service courses on CALL and ICT in various educational institutions in Finland. Rolf Palmberg's CALL site is at: http://www.vasa.abo.fi/users/rpalmber/download.htm. Rolf Palmberg is author of the downloadable ebooks CALL for You and Developing EFL Learners' Vocabulary Awareness.