Arxius de Capítols | Gipeam

Lessons Learned from Research on Fermi Problems and Mathematical Modelling: Theoretical and Practical Implications for School STEM Education

Lluís Albarracín — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 09:42:03 +0000

This chapter aims to demonstrate how adopting a mathematics education research perspective on Fermi problems can contribute to and enhance the practice and understanding of STEM education. To achieve this, we first discuss mathematical modelling from a mathematics education perspective and then briefly elaborate on modelling as discussed in STEM education. Our attention is then directed towards the inherent coupling of Fermi problems to mathematical activities and contents of the mathematical curriculum, in particular, estimates, estimation and mathematical modelling in mathematics education research. We present a framework for connecting recent advances in the research on Fermi problems to teaching and learning in STEM education and discuss the example of The tin foil boat challenge.

L'entrada Lessons Learned from Research on Fermi Problems and Mathematical Modelling: Theoretical and Practical Implications for School STEM Education ha aparegut primer a Gipeam.

Exploring the negotiation processes when developing a mathematical model to solve a Fermi problem in groups

Gipeam — Thu, 28 Nov 2024 16:13:50 +0000

Previous research has highlighted the importance of social relationships in mathematical group work while working on modelling activities. This study analyses the interaction of sixth-grade students in Primary Education (11 to 12 years old) carrying out a modelling task in groups with a Fermi problem used as the modelling activity. The focus of the study was to explore how students develop a mathematical model to solve a Fermi problem in groups. The data collected mainly came from the group discussions, although the students’ productions were also considered. The results show that a variety of factors can influence group work and that model development is based on one student introducing an initial model and then, through social interaction with the other group members, the model is improved to develop a solid strategy that may be useful for solving the problem at hand.

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Publishing mathematics education research in English: Amplifying voices from the field

Gipeam — Thu, 28 Nov 2024 16:27:13 +0000

In this paper we investigate the issue of representation within the Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education (JMTE) and the broader academic publishing landscape, particularly focusing on the underrepresentation of authors from various world regions. A questionnaire, distributed globally, aimed to amplify the voices of the underrepresented, exploring the constraints and affordances of publishing in English-medium mathematics education research journals. The question that guided our investigation was: What do voices from the mathematics education community raise in their responses to questions about publishing in English-medium research journals like JMTE? We used qualitative methods to review the responses and identify common themes. The findings revealed significant barriers and challenges related to language, research location, and institutional support, highlighting the complexities of navigating the global academic community and the academic publishing culture. We propose actionable suggestions to foster a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive publishing environment.

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El papel de las conexiones intra-matemáticas en el aprendizaje de los números decimales

Gipeam — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 16:39:28 +0000

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Representaciones matemáticas en papel de la descomposición del número 7 en educación infantil

Gipeam — Sat, 26 Oct 2024 15:47:22 +0000

Resumen: El objetivo de este artículo es describir, categorizar y clasificar las representaciones matemáticas en papel del alumnado de 5-6 años y sus expli-caciones sobre lo vivido en dos talleres de descomposición del número 7 y, crear una herramienta para interpretar y evaluar las representaciones mate-máticas en papel sobre este tema. Los participantes en el estudio fueron un grupo de 24 estudiantes de educación infantil de una escuela en Catalunya. La metodología tiene un enfoque descriptivo-interpretativo. Se analizan las producciones de cada alumno relacionadas con dos talleres y se realizan entrevistas semiestructuradas. El análisis fue realizado en dos fases: identifica-ción de la tipología de producciones y análisis del contenido matemático de las representaciones. Los resultados revelan que los alumnos utilizaron el lenguaje pictográfico, escrito y simbólico en sus representaciones y que estos lenguajes a menudo aparecen combinados. En cuanto al contenido matemá-tico, se diseñó una rúbrica en la que se han establecido seis niveles, atendien-do a una posible trayectoria de aprendizaje de la descomposición del número 7.

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From traditional teaching to flipped classroom: Impact on learning in engineering degrees

Gipeam — Sat, 28 Sep 2024 15:50:54 +0000

Computer engineering students should develop competences related to the contents of databases design and SQL queries. For this purpose, the recommendations on the convenience of changing the traditional teaching methodology to the flipped classroom are followed. In this article we present a quantitative study in which we compare the potential for the development of engineering students’ competences in the design and use of databases of the flipped classroom methodology and the traditional teaching methodology. The results obtained in the evaluation of the subject in two different courses are compared. In the first course, traditional teaching methodology was used. In the second one, flipped classroom was used when its implementation had already been tried and tested. The results of the content blocks of database design and SQL queries are compared, according to the type of learning promoted. In this article we show evidence that the implementation of the flipped classroom teaching methodology provides different results depending on the learning promoted and on the specific contents in the subject of relational databases. The benefits of implementing the flipped classroom depend on the content and type of learning promoted. We have found evidence that they improve theoretical learning outcomes for database design and in the resolution of non-reproductive activities in the SQL queries block. No conclusive benefits are reported for students’ competency development for either of the two content blocks.

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Experienced teachers talking about their mathematics teaching with linguistically disadvantaged learners

Gipeam — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 15:58:13 +0000

Learners of mathematics who are linguistically disadvantaged for a variety of reasons, including impoverished socioeconomic status, continue to be educationally disadvantaged and at considerable risk of school failure and early dropout. This is the case in many parts of the world. While much has been researched on linguistically disadvantaged learners in the fields of sociology and general pedagogy, little is known about the classroom teaching of mathematical content in language-responsive ways for all learners in school. Experienced mathematics teachers draw on a wealth of knowledge of content teaching in language-responsive ways developed through their practices working with linguistically disadvantaged learners in their classrooms. In this paper we report on interviews with some of these experienced mathematics teachers from seven educational contexts focusing on teaching probability in language-responsive ways. We focus on what we can learn from these teachers that could inform our practice as mathematics teacher educators and our research. We identify three challenges and three practices that add nuance and depth to theoretical research findings and recommendations on language in mathematics teaching, which can potentially develop these findings in more practical and accurate ways.

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Mathematics teachers’ specialized knowledge mobilized through problem transformation

Gipeam — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 09:43:32 +0000

In this study we address two issues related to problem-posing tasks in teacher education: (i) the characterization of the specialized knowledge mobilized by prospective teachers when carrying out these tasks and (ii) the identification of the prospective teachers’ pedagogical intentions in making adaptations to textbook problems. We asked prospective teachers to outline their suggestions for transforming a multiplicative problem so as to “promote the understanding” of their potential pupils. We then carried out a content analysis of their responses using the Mathematics Teachers’ Specialized Knowledge model of teachers’ specialized knowledge and identified their pedagogical intentions by means of the constant comparison method. The results show that prospective primary teachers mobilized both mathematical and pedagogical content knowledge in their responses to the problem reformulation task. Further, four distinct pedagogical intentions emerged that drew on different interpretations of the task prompt, and this influenced the type of transformation the prospective primary teachers suggested and the knowledge they mobilized in their answers.

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Mathematical naming and explaining in teaching talk: Noticing work with two groups of mathematics teachers

Gipeam — Tue, 28 May 2024 18:52:45 +0000

Research shows the salient place of mathematical teaching talk, including the mathematical-linguistic practices of naming and explaining, in the enactment of students’ mathematical talk and learning with understanding in the classroom. Our study was developed to examine the noticing of two groups of secondary-school mathematics teachers in one-day workshops with tasks about these practices. The two workshops were mathematically content-specific, with teaching and learning accounts and prompts aimed at guiding focused attention to naming and explaining in the teaching of linear equations and probability. Thematic text analyses led to identify three foci of the two groups’ noticing: (i) missing practices of mathematical naming in own teaching talk; (ii) relative impact of mathematical explaining in teaching talk; and (iii) tensions around mathematical naming and explaining in teaching talk. Our results show that the social construction of teacher noticing is a feature of noticing development that can be documented in the context of one-day workshops. Whereas time for individual thinking and responses to the tasks created a context of support for noticing development, participation in the group discussions allowed the teachers to notice nuances of mathematical naming and explaining in teaching talk unaddressed in the task prompts. The group discussions thus amplified and opened up the opportunities to develop some focused noticing on the content of the workshops, specifically in connection with the teachers’ own teaching practice.

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Decentring research on mathematics teacher education: Why does it matter?

Gipeam — Sat, 10 Aug 2024 18:41:34 +0000

The current Special Issue, titled “Decentring research on mathematics teacher education”, adds to the journey that the research community of mathematics teacher education is doing towards the growing and strengthening of a more equitable, diverse and inclusive domain. There is not a punctual occasion in which this journey started. Several initiatives over a period of decades have been and are contributing to the process of becoming a research domain that also represents the contexts, cultures and voices of historically marginalised world regions (Scheiner et al., 2024) and groups in society (Abtahi & Planas, 2024), by examining ways of addressing their needs, concerns and challenges.

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