Playing mathematical board games, such as Shortcut, can certainly raise an individual’s ZPD.
Every person has a level of understanding and skill with which they can perform any function easily, either cognitively or physically, with no support. For some individuals, this is an area of safety and comfort in which confidence in their own ability is high. This is known widely as one’s comfort zone. Further, there is a level of capability that is beyond an individual’s skill or knowledge even with the support of an external agency be that a more capable other or from information found in books or online. Even with this external support the individual lacks the foundation knowledge to perform the new skill. The space between these two levels represents the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), a notion developed by the Soviet psychologist, Lev Vygotsky (Wertsch 1984).
The ideal situation for any individual is to stay within their ZPD. Here, lies an area of discovery and learning. To remain below your ZPD may induce boredom as there is no challenge to succeed. Moving beyond their ZPD and an individual may become easily discouraged at the difficulty of the task.
For example, an individual is comfortable with addition. They can add single digits in their head with ease. They are in a zone where they can perform tasks easily with no assistance or direction. This is where the individual feels comfortable and safe in their own ability. Now, ask the individual to subtract one number from another. Now there is a tension with understanding that larger number cannot be subtracted from smaller numbers (let’s disregard for a moment the concept of negative values). Now the individual may need some direction when performing subtraction. So, with assistance the individual will learn the new skill and over time will become proficient at performing that new skill will no assistance or direction. The individual’s ZPD has shifted.
Constant acknowledgment of one’s ZPD ensures a position of lifelong learning as one is constantly learning new skills to master and then moving on to more challenging tasks.
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Reference: Wertsch, J. V. (1984). The zone of proximal development: Some conceptual issues. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 1984(23), 7–18. https://doi.org/10.1002/CD.23219842303
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