Parent’s experience in remote learning with digital and physical mathematical modelling

in Research and Practice in Technology Learning (2023), 18

In reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government of Luxembourg suspended in-school teaching and learning towards remote teaching. A survey conducted by the Ministry of Education after three weeks of ... [more ▼]

In reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government of Luxembourg suspended in-school teaching and learning towards remote teaching. A survey conducted by the Ministry of Education after three weeks of confinement, showed that more than half of the parents faced difficulties when using remote teaching with their students. To tackle this new challenge, we adapted our research to the use of augmented reality, digital and physical mathematical modelling in remote mathematics education for elementary schools. The elementary school students (aged 5 to 12) created cultural artifacts (i.e., Easter egg cups) during the confinement. In this paper, we will describe mathematical modelling in remote teaching and further concentrate on parents’ perspectives, who played an essential role in assisting their children. Moreover, we will discuss different didactical principles that emerged from the task design during the study through parents’ eyes. Thus, understanding parents’ perspectives became highly important in enabling us to improve task designs and related pedagogical approaches in remote teaching. The data collected in this study included semi-structured interviews with students, parents, and teachers as well as questionnaires and field notes. We followed an exploratory stance with our data analyses, primarily utilizing grounded theory (Corbin & Strauss, 1990, 2014) approaches. Through the insights we gained from our findings, we aim to explain how the parents perceived teaching and learning mathematical modelling in our experiments, how they scaffolded the given tasks, and what support they required and would need in future remote teaching. [less ▲]

3D Modelling for AR and 3D printing in Teacher Training

Scientific Conference (2022, October 07)

School activities integrating students’ environments into teaching aim to develop skills and strategies to solve problems in real-world situations and can be useful in hybrid teaching. Such activities can ... [more ▼]

School activities integrating students’ environments into teaching aim to develop skills and strategies to solve problems in real-world situations and can be useful in hybrid teaching. Such activities can encourage and motivate exploring skills in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM). Hybrid teaching usually uses technologies and connects virtual and physical worlds. We use technologies like 3D modelling for Augmented Reality (AR) or 3D printing with GeoGebra and created an exercise introducing them in a lecture for pre-service mathematics students. The exercise combines the possibility to introduce these technologies, can be used in hybrid teaching and connects to the Austrian mathematics curriculum. The exercise consists of 3D modelling mathematical mazes that can be explored using AR on handheld devices and can also be 3D printed. We used it in online, offline and hybrid scenarios with pre- and in-service teachers and will show resulting presentations of teacher projects. [less ▲]

3D printed mathematics visualisations by STEAM teachers

Scientific Conference (2022, September 12)

Visualising abstract concepts such as for example geometrical objects in mathematics can be a valuable support for learners. Visualisation, however, is a process involving several steps that influence ... [more ▼]

Visualising abstract concepts such as for example geometrical objects in mathematics can be a valuable support for learners. Visualisation, however, is a process involving several steps that influence each other. Duval (1998) uses steps connecting reasoning by an explanation or proof to a construction step involving tools creating a visualisation to a production of a visual representation leading to new insights about a geometrical object. Vágová (2020) argues that visualising geometrical objects needs the ability to create, manipulate, and transform mental images by an internal and an external representation which both require information about the spatial arrangement. 3D modelled and then visualised geometrical objects can support the development and train visualisation skills. Steps of visualisation processes require visuospatial competencies and are also important for other subjects in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education (Ng 2017). Being able to understand representations and their spatial rotations, transitions between 2D and 3D and being able to manipulate representations are valuable for STEAM related subjects (Kok 2020). Martin-Dorta et al. (2008) says that spatial abilities can be improved using real and computer-aided models. 3D printing can therefore be an interesting activity as it also combines the mentioned steps in a mathematical modelling way. This approach was used in a beginners course for pre-service mathematics teachers and some of them chose to create mathematical proofs as visualisation. We will look at 3D printed objects, which concepts they visualise and what teachers' ideas behind visualisations were. [less ▲]

Exploring Mathematical concepts in an Ecosystem of STEAM Learning, consisting of Physical Objects, Digital Toolkits and Tutoring Systems, 3D Printing and Outdoor Mathematical Trails

Poster (2022, February 04)

We performed several research studies on various technologies such as automated tutoring and GPS-assisted systems as well as Computer Assisted Design, Augmented Reality, and 3D Printing solutions; with ... [more ▼]

We performed several research studies on various technologies such as automated tutoring and GPS-assisted systems as well as Computer Assisted Design, Augmented Reality, and 3D Printing solutions; with various groups of teacher educators, teachers, students and parents. The selected technologies offered different opportunities and developed varied skills for each stakeholder group. This poster outlines our technology ecosystems with different target groups and core findings of our studies. [less ▲]

Integrated STEAM Approach in Outdoor Trails with Elementary School Pre-service Teachers in Luxemburg

in Educational Technology and Society (2021), 24(4), 205-219

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was impossible to carry out on-campus teaching and examinations as planned for the first-year elementary school Bachelor’s degree teacher training courses during the summer ... [more ▼]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was impossible to carry out on-campus teaching and examinations as planned for the first-year elementary school Bachelor’s degree teacher training courses during the summer term of 2019/2020. Therefore, we moved our on-campus STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) related courses to schooling at home. For their course examination, students designed outdoor trails in groups with the educational technology MathCityMap based on an integrated STEAM approach. Hence, they combined STEAM with real-world situations (e.g., monuments, marketplaces, playgrounds). The tasks within the trails required the use of technologies such as augmented reality (AR), digital modelling (e.g., GeoGebra 3D Graphing Calculator), and GPS. Analogue measuring tools (e.g., triangle ruler) were also used in the task designs. We collected data from 21 trails with 259 tasks from 49 pre-service teachers to analyse the effects on professional growth in STEAM education. Through hierarchical cluster analysis we identified three different clusters with patterns regarding STEAM in outdoor trails. This paper will describe a pedagogical framework for the integrated STEAM approach to designing and evaluating outdoor trails. Furthermore, we will explain patterns pre-service teachers developed during this professional development. [less ▲]

eJMT Problem Corner: June 2021

in The Electronic Journal of Mathematics & Technology (2021)

Transition from traditional to hybrid to online courses for pre-service elementary school teachers at the University of Luxembourg: STEAM integrated approach in the project MathEduc @ BScE

Scientific Conference (2021, April 07)

During the past year, technology has started enabling new forms of teaching and learning in higher education in Luxemburg. Thus, to be able to work more closely with elementary school pre-service teachers ... [more ▼]

During the past year, technology has started enabling new forms of teaching and learning in higher education in Luxemburg. Thus, to be able to work more closely with elementary school pre-service teachers, we shifted our mathematics education course during the past years to flipped classroom approaches and worked with synchronous and asynchronous teaching on- and off-campus modes. Furthermore, due to the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to shift our teaching to entirely online flipped classroom approaches together with outdoor mathematical trails with STEAM integrated assessments. This final shift to a fully online flipped classroom, with self-paced, student-centred teachings and learnings, showed strong positive effects on pre-service elementary school teachers in mathematics teaching. In this presentation, we will outline results of this transition period and describe results from different studies. [less ▲]

Mixed-methods research in STEAM outdoor trails in elementary school pre-service teacher training

Scientific Conference (2021, March 25)

3D modelling for pre-service primary school teachers in mathematics education

Scientific Conference (2021, February 17)

Outdoor STEAM integrated framework in elementary schools in Luxembourg using MathCityMap and GeoGebra 3D Calculator

Scientific Conference (2020, December 15)

In elementary schools in Luxemburg, sciences and mathematics are generally taught in class based essentially on textbooks. However, the findings of multiple studies on understanding and applying skills in ... [more ▼]

In elementary schools in Luxemburg, sciences and mathematics are generally taught in class based essentially on textbooks. However, the findings of multiple studies on understanding and applying skills in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) report that students need hands-on activities on real-world objects. Furthermore, in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, where numerous restrictions and risks dominate teaching inside the classroom, outdoor learning is safer and offers many opportunities. Hence, we created outdoor mathematical trails with a STEAM integrated approach for elementary schools using the free educational software MathCityMap and the dynamic mathematics software GeoGebra 3D. In these outdoor trails, students used a set of promising technologies, i.e. AR (Augmented Reality) or GPS, to support STEAM education. Based on results from our first study on outdoor mathematical trails in June 2020 (in review), we developed and evaluated a framework on outdoor STEAM integrated teaching. This framework was used for further outdoor task and trail creations in elementary schools, which we investigated by conducting semi-structured interviews with students and teachers. Hence, we will present how this framework was used in elementary schools to create outdoor mathematical trails and describe how it affected the students' learning. [less ▲]