Development of an app to support learning in A-level maths

This project involved producing an app for smart devices to enable modernised learning for A-level maths students. Research in a stakeholder school showed that 94% of pupils surveyed within the upper-secondary level owned a smartphone and most owned a tablet also, emphasising the opportunity for using apps to support learning. The app was developed using iBuildApp, an online app-creation programme which requires no programming. Past exam questions and solutions, notes and video tutorials were included and the topic was vectors, identified by teachers as problematic. Pupils generally found the app easy to use and wanted further development. The videos were popular despite this not ranking highly as a preferred method of revision previously. Teachers were happy for pupils to use the app to supplement their learning, both in the classroom and outside.

Pesquisa em Resolução de Problemas: caminhos, avanços e novas perspectivas

We discuss the knowledge that has been constructed regarding Problem Solving in Math Education as a result of research developed by GTERP - Work and Study Group in Problem Solving, UNESP-Rio Claro/SP. The research is guided by the following general questions: How do students construct mathematical knowledge and how do teachers implement the methodology of Math Teaching-Learning-Evaluation through Problem Solving? Historical aspects of Problem Solving are very important in the configuration of the current trends for Problem Solving. One of them is the Methodology of Math Teaching-Learning- Evaluation through Problem Solving, based on clear foundations and an approach of renewal. In addition to that methodology, two aspects have been developed by the group: The conception of Math as a science of pattern and order and Discrete Mathematics. The knowledge constructed and the scientific production of GTERP prove its relevant contribution to intensifying dialogues between research and educational practice, students and teachers, and to increasing the possibilities of that practice particularly in Math work.

Análise combinatória no ensino médio apoiada na metodologia de ensino-aprendizagem-avaliação de matemática através da resolução de problemas

Pós-graduação em Educação Matemática - IGCE

Resolução de problemas no cenário da matemática discreta

Pós-graduação em Educação Matemática - IGCE

Mathematics Game e-Library for Elementary School, study case: Mexico

One of the most relevant subjects for the intellectual formation of elementary school students is Mathematics where its importance goes back to ancient civilizations and which its importance is underestimated nowadays. This phenomenon occurs in Mexico, where 63.1% of the total population of elementary school students between the third and sixth grade have insufficient/elemental level of mathematics knowledge. This has resulted in the need to use a new mechanism to complement student’s classroom learning. With the rapid growth of wireless and mobile technologies, the mobile learning has been gradually considered as a novel and effective form of learning due to it inherits all the advantages of e-learning as well as breaks the limitations of learning time and space occurring in the traditional classroom teaching. This project proposes the use of a Mathematics Game e-Library integrated by a set of games for mobile devices and a distribution/management tool. The games are developed for running on mobile devices and for cover the six competencies related with the mathematics learning approach established in Mexico. The distribution/management tool allows students to reach contents according to their needs; this is achieved through a core engine that infers, from an initial profile, the games that cover the user’s knowledge gaps.

Aprendiendo a interpretar el aprendizaje de las matemáticas en educación primaria. Características en un contexto B-Learning

El objetivo de esta investigación es identificar características del proceso de instrumentalización del conocimiento de didáctica de la matemática de profesores de educación primaria en un curso de especialización desarrollado en un contexto b-learning. Participaron 65 maestros en un entorno de aprendizaje b-learning integrando debates virtuales y centrados en el análisis del pensamiento matemático de alumnos de educación primaria. El análisis de las participaciones en los debates virtuales y la resolución de las tareas nos han permitido caracterizar el aprendizaje del conocimiento sobre el aprendizaje de las matemáticas como un cambio en el discurso de los estudiantes. Este cambio se puso de manifiesto por la integración paulatina del conocimiento de didáctica de la matemática en la interpretación del pensamiento matemático de los alumnos. Los resultados indican que las aportaciones a los debates en forma de refutaciones favorecieron el proceso de instrumentalización de las ideas teóricas.

Pre-Service Teachers’ Mathematics Language and Reflection in the Context of an Early Childhood Mathematics Methods Course

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Building learning communities to support beginning teachers use of technology

This paper reports on the early stages of a three year study that is investigating the impact of a technology-enriched teacher education program on beginning teachers' integration of computers, graphics calculators, and the internet into secondary school mathematics classrooms. Whereas much of the existing research on the role of technology in mathematics learning has been concerned with effects on curriculum content or student learning, less attention has been given to the relationship between technology use and issues of pedagogy, in particular the impact on teachers' professional learning in the context of specific classroom and school environments. Our research applies sociocultural theories of learning to consider how beginning teachers are initiated into a collaborative professional community featuring both web-based and face to face interaction, and how participation in such a community shapes their pedagogical beliefs and practices. The aim of this paper is to analyse processes through which the emerging community was established and sustained during the first year of the study. We examine features of this community in terms of identity formation, shifts in values and beliefs, and interaction patterns revealed in bulletin board discussion between students and lecturers.

Edward W. Taylor / Patricia Cranton, and Associates (Hrsg.): The Handbook of Transformative Learning, Theory, Research, and Practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass 2012 [...] [Sammelrezension]

Sammelrezension von: 1. Edward W. Taylor / Patricia Cranton, and Associates (Hrsg.): The Handbook of Transformative Learning, Theory, Research, and Practice, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass 2012 (598 S.; ISBN 978-1-111-21891-4) 2. Jack Mezirow / Edward W. Taylor, and Associates (Hrsg.): Transformative Learning in Practice, Insights from Community, Workplace, and Higher Education, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass 2009 (303 S.; ISBN 978-0-470-25790-6)

Texto guía para docentes enfocado en el bloque de matemáticas discretas en el primero B.G.U.

El presente trabajo de titulación denominado Texto Guía para Docentes enfocado en el bloque de Matemáticas Discretas del Primero B.G.U, ha sido desarrollado con la finalidad de presentar un aporte significativoy de ayuda al docente de Matemáticas de Primero de Bachillerato, anhelando un mejor desenvolvimiento dentro del aula de clase. Este documento está elaborado en base a la legislación educativa ecuatoriana vigente y de los documentos oficiales del Ministerio de Educación, el tema propuesto corresponde al tercer bloque curricular del primer año de Bachillerato General Unificado en la asignatura de Matemáticas. Nuestro trabajo de titulación se compone de tres capítulos. En el capítulo uno, se presenta una síntesis de temas como la evolución de la educación ecuatoriana, los modelos pedagógicos, los métodos de enseñanza, didáctica de la matemática y programación lineal, considerados como base para el desarrollo de la propuesta. En el capítulo dos, se detalla la investigación estadística realizada mediante una encuesta aplicada a docentes de Matemáticas de Primer año de Bachillerato, pertenecientes a la Coordinación Zonal 6 de Educación, Distrito Norte. Los resultados encontrados cimentaron la propuesta de la implementación del texto guía para el aprendizaje de Matemáticas Discretas. En el capítulo tres se elabora la propuesta del texto guía, estructurado en seis guías didácticas, cada una corresponde al desarrollo de una destreza con criterio de desempeñopara el tema planteado. Al final de este capítulo, se detallan conclusiones y recomendaciones dirigidas para el docente de matemáticas.

Modeling and Verification of Privacy Enhancing Protocols

Privacy enhancing protocols (PEPs) are a family of protocols that allow secure exchange and management of sensitive user information. They are important in preserving users’ privacy in today’s open environment. Proof of the correctness of PEPs is necessary before they can be deployed. However, the traditional provable security approach, though well established for verifying cryptographic primitives, is not applicable to PEPs. We apply the formal method of Coloured Petri Nets (CPNs) to construct an executable specification of a representative PEP, namely the Private Information Escrow Bound to Multiple Conditions Protocol (PIEMCP). Formal semantics of the CPN specification allow us to reason about various security properties of PIEMCP using state space analysis techniques. This investigation provides us with preliminary insights for modeling and verification of PEPs in general, demonstrating the benefit of applying the CPN-based formal approach to proving the correctness of PEPs.