Workshops

Mathematics for graphics computing: students learn Algebra and program Python to create a project where they make Algebra create a scenario's photo.

Sandra Gaspar Martins, José Matos, João Sousa, Lucía Suárez, Faculdade de Ciências e Technologia Lisboa, Instituto Superior de Engenharia Lisboa

An  innovative  approach  to  teach  algebra  was  created  in  2011  where  students  learn, at the  same  course, algebra  and object oriented programming in Python. Both contents are widely used to create a final project where an image file is created as output when students define a 3D scene modeled using triangles, some light sources and a point of view from where the “photo” is taken (a camera). The contents and the approach have been iteratively adapted to arrive to this stable  form  presented  here. Many  students  revealed  that  to  see  an  immediate  application  of  algebra  enhances their engagement. All the intervenients, teachers students and researchers, evaluate positively this multi contents course besides the hard work it demands from all.

Moving, comparing, transforming graphs: a bodily approach of functions

Francesca Ferrara and Giulia Ferrari University of Torino, Italy;

The workshop aims at presenting and discussing activities in which graphing motion technology named WiiGraph is used. The activities offer possible lines of (inter)action within the classroom to introduce discourses about the concept of function, graph sense, transformations, all through modelling motion. These lines might be followed at different school levels subjected to suitable task design (for example, we are going to carry out similar activities with grade 4, grade 7 and grade 10 students). The software allows for working with graphs of many different types. It leverages two remote controllers of the Nintendo Wii to detect and graphically display the location of two users as they move along life­size number lines. Embodied interactions with the software are the ground for gaining insights into temporo-spatial mathematical relationships. During the workshop, some tasks will be presented to the participants, who will be directly involved in the use of the software and in discussions about potential and limits of the technology, in particular about issues concerned with task design.

Blending computational and mathematical thinking in primary education: The ScratchMaths Project in England

Alison Clark-Wilson, Richard Noss and Celia Hoyles,University College London - London's Global University  (UCL), United Kingdom

A 3-year design-based research project in England, ScratchMaths, has developed a set of curriculum materials for the last two years of primary school. These materials use the Scratch programming language to blend computational and mathematical thinking. In this workshop you will have the opportunity to explore some of the curriculum activities as a means to discuss the potential impacts of the underlying pedagogy and curriculum content on pupils' classroom experiences in other countries' contexts.

Practicing WIMS : hands-on training

Damir Buskulic, Laboratoire d'Annecy le Vieux de Physique des Particules  (LAPP)

WIMS (Web Interactive Multipurpose Server) is a a collaborative, open source e-learning platform hosting online interactive exercises in many different fields such as mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, French and English among others. The pedagogical specificities of WIMS will be shown, such as a bank of exercises readily available, the deeply embedded random feature, a wide variety of exercise types, including formal answers and personalized student monitoring tools. We will also present how to make custom exercises.

GEOGEBRA Automated reasoning tools: a tutorial with examples

GeoGebra Automated Reasoning Tools (GGB-ART) are a collection of GeoGebra tools and commands ready to automatically derive, discover and/or prove geometric statements in a dynamic geometric construction. The aim of this workshop is to present, through examples, the use of GGB-ART and to argue about its potential impact in the classroom.

Dynamic algebra and other Aristod math applications

Jean-François Nicaud, Christophe Viudez, ARISTOD

Aristod develops applications for maths and education which run on computers, tablets and smartphones. With a pretty editing of formulas inside text, they are devoted to writing, calculating with gestures (Dynamic Algebra), drawing curves, exercising, playing (Tetris like serious games called TQuiz) and chatting. Resources for students are available on the company website and teachers can create their own resources. The tools can be inserted in platforms and projects

MATHMAGIC: the encounter between computational and mathematical thinking

Pedro Lealdino, Christian Mercat, Université Lyon 1

Computer Science is becoming more present in the curricula of the schools. Some countries already have changed their programs to offer subjects like algorithms, logic and programming languages since the beginning of early cycles of fundamental education. However, the contents are strongly related with mathematics, and for this reason, mathematics teachers need to update themselves to be able to teach the fundamentals of computer science. For this reason, we offer on this workshop an introduction to the development of computational thinking from a mathematical trick with cards. At the end of the workshop, the participants will be able to write their own code, solving a mathematical problem.

Dynamic technology for simulating a scientific inquiry for learning - teaching pre-calculus concepts

Osama Swidan, Ferdinando Arzarello and Silvia Beltramino

1: Ben - Gurion University, Israel
2: Turin University, Turin, Italy
3: M. Curie School, Pinerolo, Italy

In the proposed workshop, we are interested to share with mathematics educators a possible use for dynamic technology to simulate a scientific inquiry for teaching-learning pre-calculus topics. Inspired by the logic of inquiry approach and the variation theory, we designed a set of activities and methodology that aim to bridge the gap between the formal world of mathematics and the real-life situations. Participants of the workshop will experience the activities and will engage in the methodology for conducting classroom practices. Results from our ongoing research would be shared with the participants and insights could be discussed that would emerge from the experience.