I don't think its intended to teach algebra independently. The article addresses the roles of teachers in potentially using this in classes, to "teach the whys of algebra". And this applies to both the whys of the rules, and the possible real world applications.
I think the main reasons that people are turned off of algebra are that they think it is hard and it is boring. An thats the hurdle that must be jumped. This gets around both of those problems. They learn it without realizing that they are learning it. And once they know the rules, it is relatively simple to show how this fun game that they just learned actually has real world applications.
I might have been a massively nerdy little kid, but I remember learning the basics of algebra back in the 6th grade and doing problems and thinking how FUN it was. I didn't get how most kids in my class didn't think that this was a new exciting puzzle. Its exciting to see something that manages to put that sense of fun back into math.
I think the main reasons that people are turned off of algebra are that they think it is hard and it is boring. An thats the hurdle that must be jumped. This gets around both of those problems. They learn it without realizing that they are learning it. And once they know the rules, it is relatively simple to show how this fun game that they just learned actually has real world applications.
I might have been a massively nerdy little kid, but I remember learning the basics of algebra back in the 6th grade and doing problems and thinking how FUN it was. I didn't get how most kids in my class didn't think that this was a new exciting puzzle. Its exciting to see something that manages to put that sense of fun back into math.