WHAT began as a primary school teacher's idea to help students enjoy mathematics has bloomed into an interactive computer game that has won accolades from the IT sector.

When Pasir Ris Primary School math teacher Polly Chew saw how hooked her two young sons were on a monster-combating computer game, an idea popped up in her head.

She thought of creating a computer game involving math problems that will similarly engage her young students.

That was two years ago, when her sons were 12 and 10.

When told of the idea, her principal and colleagues were supportive, but there was a slight problem: Mrs Chew, who is also the head of her school's math department, did not have the computer expertise.

So she approached various institutions and managed to get the Temasek Polytechnic's Informatics and IT School to help develop the game.

Now, this interactive, multi-player computer game - which third-year Temasek Polytechnic student Marcus Su developed - has been shortlisted for a regional infocomm technology award.

It is one of 44 products or applications that have been nominated for the regional Asia-Pacific Infocomm Technology Alliance Awards to be held here next week.

In the multi-player game, there are fires to jump over and ladders to climb, but it's only through solving math problems that will give the player points to move to the next level.

If a student needs help, or wants some interaction, there is also an instant messaging box that allows students to chat with one another on the system.

In a controlled experiment carried out, students who played the game over a few sessions performed better in a subsequent math test than those who did not.

Now, all Primary 4 and 5 pupils in the school have been allocated time, in their timetables, to play this game.

The game is now only available on the primary school's network server, but there are plans to expand it to encompass other subjects and extend it to other schools.