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Task variations for backtrack
107-120Views:190This article has been written for informatics teachers who want to issue back-track based tasks on their lessons or as homework or on competitions. We present a few methods to generate a more complicated problem from a simpler task, which will be more complex, and its solution needs a good idea or trick. Starting from an example, we lead the reader through increasingly di cult task variations.
Subject Classification: 97P50
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Computer cooking vs. problem solving
35-58Views:288Computer cooking is a task-related phenomenon where students (end-users) must blindly follow a long list of orders without any connection to the content of the problem, if there is any. Despite its low efficacy, this method is widely used and accepted in informatics both in the learning-teaching process and testing. The National Base Curriculum 2020 in Hungary is in complete accordance with the ‘Informatics Reference Framework for Schools’, but the course books hardly use the latest results of computer education research. The present paper provides examples of how the results of computer education research can be integrated into teaching-learning materials and classroom practices and discusses the effectiveness and consequences of the different solutions, where tool-centred approaches are compared to problem-focused solutions.
Subject Classification: 94-01
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The tools for developing a spatial geometric approach
207-216Views:192Tamás Varga writes about the use of tools: "The rational use of tools - the colored bars, the Dienes set, the logical set, the geoboard, and some other tools - is an element of our experiment that is important for all students, but especially for disadvantaged learners." (Varga T. 1977) The range of tools that can be used well in teaching has grown significantly over the years. This paper compares spatial geometric modeling kits. Tamás Varga uses the possibilities of the Babylon building set available in Hungary in the 1970s, collects space and flat geometry problems for this (Varga T. 1973). Similarly, structured kits with significantly more options have been developed later, e.g. ZomeTool and 4D Frame. These tools are regularly used in the programs of the International Experience Workshop (http://www.elmenymuhely.-hu/?lang=en). Teachers, schools that have become familiar with the versatile possibilities of these sets, use them often in the optional and regular classes. We recorded a lesson on video where secondary students worked with the 4D Frame kit. We make some comments and offer some thoughts on this lesson.
Subject Classification: 97G40, 97D40
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Trigonometric identities via combinatorics
73-91Views:233In this paper we consider the combinatorial approach of the multi-angle formulas sin nΘ and cos nΘ. We describe a simple "drawing rule" for deriving the formulas immediately. We recall some theoretical background, historical remarks, and show some topics that is connected to this problem, as Chebyshev polynomials, matching polynomials, Lucas polynomial sequences.
Subject Classification: 05A19
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Metacognition – necessities and possibilities in teaching and learning mathematics
69-87Views:218This article focuses on the design of mathematics lessons as well as on the research in mathematics didactics from the perspective that metacognition is necessary and possible.
Humans are able to self-reflect on their thoughts and actions. They are able to make themselves the subject of their thoughts and reflections. In particular, it is possible to become aware of one’s own cognition, which means the way in which one thinks about something, and thus regulate and control it. This is what the term metacognition, thinking about one’s own thinking, stands for.
Human thinking tends to biases and faults. Both are often caused by fast thinking. Certain biases occur in mathematical thinking. Overall, this makes it necessary to think slow and to reflect on one’s own thinking in a targeted manner.
The cognitive processes of thinking, learning and understanding in mathematics become more effective and successful when they are supplemented and extended by metacognitive processes. However, it depends on a specific design of the mathematics lessons and the corresponding tasks in mathematics.Subject Classification: 97C30, 97C70, 97D40, 97D50, 97D70
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Teaching undergraduate mathematics - a problem solving course for first year
183-206Views:228In this paper we describe a problem solving course for first year undergraduate mathematics students who would be future school teachers.
Subject Classification: 97B50, 97B70, 97D50, 97D60, 97F60, 97U30
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What can we learn from Tamás Varga’s work regarding the arithmetic-algebra transition?
39-50Views:229Tamás Varga’s Complex Mathematics Education program plays an important role in Hungarian mathematics education. In this program, attention is given to the continuous “movement” between concrete and abstract levels. In the process of transition from arithmetic to algebra, the learner moves from a concrete level to a more abstract level. In our research, we aim to track the transition process from arithmetic to algebra by studying the 5-8-grader textbooks and teacher manuals edited under Tamás Varga's supervision. For this, we use the appearance of “working backward” and “use an equation” heuristic strategies in the examined textbooks and manuals, which play a central role in the mentioned process.
Subject Classification: 97-01, 97-03, 97D50
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How do secondary school students from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq understand the concept of function?
221-244Views:290The study investigates secondary school students' understanding of the concept of function. The paper focuses on three main aspects: students' ability to define the concept of function; students' ability to recognize different representations of function; and students' ability to convert between different representations. A test was developed to assess the three main constructs of the study and administered to 342 students in secondary schools in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. According to the results, students have diffculties in recognizing different representations of function and conversion between them. Connections between different parts of the test may provide hints on educational challenges of how to appropriately teach functions.
Subject Classification: 26Bxx, 97D60
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Task reformulation as a practical tool for formation of electronic digest of tasks
1-27Views:150Creative thinking as well as thinking itself is being developed at active learning-cognitive activity of students. To make mathematic matter a subject of interest and work of students at classes, it is efficacious to submit it in a form of tasks. The tasks may be set up in a purposeful system of tasks by means of which reaching the teaching goals in the sense of quality and durability of gained knowledge may be more effective. A suitable means for presentation of tasks with their characteristics (as e.g. didactic function and cognitive level) as well as task systems themselves is an electronic digest of tasks as a database. The analysis of textbooks and digests of tasks commonly used at schools in Slovakia shows that they do not include all the types of tasks necessary for setting up complete (in the sense of didactic functions) task systems. One of the most important methods used for formation of the missing tasks is reformulation of tasks. The individual strategies of task reformulation are explained in details on examples in this article. -
Programming Theorems and Their Applications
213-241Views:284One of the effective methodological approaches in programming that supports the design and development of reliable software is analogy-based programming. Within this framework, the method of problem reduction plays a key role. Reducing a given problem to another one whose solving algorithm is already known can be made more efficient by the application of programming theorems. These represent proven, abstract solutions – in a general form – to some of the most common problems in programming. In this article, we present six fundamental programming theorems as well as pose five sample problems. In solving these problems, all six programming theorems will be applied. In the process of reduction, we will employ a concise specification language. Programming theorems and solutions to the problems will be given using the structogram form. However, we will use pseudocodes as descriptions of algorithms resembling their actual implementation in Python. A functional style solution to one of the problems will also be presented, which is to illustrate that for the implementation in Python, it is sufficient to give the specification of the problem for the design of the solution. The content of the article essentially corresponds to that of the introductory lectures of a course we offered to students enrolled in the Applied Mathematics specialization.
Subject Classification: D40
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Apollonea.com project: integrating geometry and collaboration in education
183-194Views:91This article presents the Apollonea.com project, which aims to make the solutions to Apollonius’ problems accessible to students and teachers through modern technology. The web platform contains more than 150 interactive constructions created by students using GeoGebra, allowing for dynamic manipulation and visualization of solutions to various variants of Apollonius’ problems. The project combines classical geometric problems with an interdisciplinary approach, teamwork, and the use of modern technology. The article describes the process of developing the Apollonea.com website, the use of GeoGebra in the project, the structure and functions of the website, and its educational benefits in enhancing students’ geometric skills. The project demonstrates how traditional mathematics education can be connected with modern ICT tools.
Subject Classification: 97U50, 97G40, 51M04, 68U05
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Supporting the education of engineering mathematics using the immediate feedback method
49-61Views:204In the literature, several methods are suggested to deal with problems regarding the efficiency of mathematics education including techniques that help integrate new knowledge into long-term memory. We examined how effective the application of the immediate feedback method is in teaching engineering mathematics. The article presents the method used and the results obtained during the study.
Subject Classification: 97D40, 97D60
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Is it possible to develop some elements of metacognition in a Mathematics classroom environment?
123-132Views:241In an earlier exploratory survey, we investigated the metacognitive activities of 9th grade students, and found that they have only limited experience in the “looking back” phase of the problem solving process. This paper presents the results of a teaching experiment focusing on ninth-grade students’ metacognitive activities in the process of solving several open-ended geometry problems. We conclude that promoting students’ metacognitive abilities makes their problem solving process more effective.
Subject Classification: 97D50, 97G40
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Fehleranalyse beim Lösen von offenen Aufgaben Ergebnisse einer empirischen Studie in der Grundschule
83-113Views:187Open problems play a key role in mathematics education, also in primary school. However, children in primary school work in many relations in a different way from learner in secondary school. Therefore, the (possibly) first confrontation with an open task could be problematical. Within the framework of an international paper and pencil test it was examined how far children of primary school notice the openness of a task and which mistakes they do during working on that task. In particularly are meant by openness different interpretations of the task, which all lead to a set of numbers with more than one element as a result. For evaluation, a common classification system was adapted by slightly modification of the original system. -
What does ICT help and does not help?
33-49Views:273Year by year, ICT tools and related teaching methods are evolving a lot. Since 2016, the author of the present lines has been looking for a connection between them that supports the development of mathematical competencies and could be integrated into Transcarpathian minority Hungarian language education too. As a doctoral student at the University of Debrecen, I experienced, for example, how the interactive whiteboard revolutionized illustration in Hungarian mathematics teaching, and how it facilitated students' involvement. During my research of teaching in this regard, in some cases, the digital solution had advantageous effects versus concrete-manipulative representation of
Bruner's too.
At the same time, ICT "canned" learning materials (videos, presentations, ...) allow for a shift towards repetitive learning instead of simultaneous active participation, which can be compensated for by the "retrieval-enhanced" learning method.
I have conducted and intend to conduct several research projects in a Transcarpathian Hungarian primary school. In the research so far, I examined whether, in addition to the financial and infrastructural features of the Transcarpathian Hungarian school, the increased "ICT-supported" and the "retrieval-enhanced" learning method could be integrated into institutional mathematics education. I examined the use of two types of ICT devices: one was the interactive whiteboard, and the other was providing one computer per student.
In this article, I describe my experiences, gained during one semester, in the class taught with the interactive whiteboard on the one hand, and in the class taught according to the "retrieval-enhanced" learning method on the other hand.
I compare the effectiveness of the classes to their previous achievements, to each other, and to a class in Hungary.Subject Classification: 97U70
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Gamification in Higher Education
87-106Views:865The way of thinking and the way of life of the today's children and teenagers have changed radically. Some of the well-established pedagogical methods that were used for decades have become obsolete. Therefore, we need to look for a new method to approach Generations Z and Alpha. Gamification, which has been known since 2010 and means the use of game elements in other areas of life, offers an opportunity to do so.
In addition to a brief description of gamification, my article shows some possibilities for using it at the university. Furthermore, I investigate the impact of gamification on the student in "Algorithms and Data Structures" university course.Subject Classification: 97P30
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Fostering engineering freshmen’s shifts of attention by using Matlab LiveScript for solving mathematical tasks
1-14Views:258We designed an experimental path including a summative assessment phase, where engineering freshmen are involved in solving mathematical tasks by using Matlab LiveScripts. We analyzed the students’ answers to a questionnaire about their perceived impact of the use of Matlab on their way to solve mathematical tasks. The main result is that students show shifts of attention from computations to other aspects of problem solving, moving from an operational to a structural view of mathematics.
Subject Classification: 97U70, 97H60
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Manipulatives and semiotic tools of Game of Go as playful and creative activity to learn mathematics in early grades in France
197-206Views:199This research develops resources to teach mathematics in French primary school by using the game of Go. A group of searchers, teachers and go players meet at university to produce teaching resources. These resources are implemented in the classroom. Then the group evaluate this implementation and improve the resources. The aim of this classroom research is to study the opportunities of the game of Go to learn mathematics and to propose a teacher training course to implement the game of Go in French primary schools in accordance with the French syllabus. Game of Go appears as a manipulative and semiotic tool to learn mathematics at primary school.
Subject Classification: 97D50, 97U60
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Square root in secondary school
59-72Views:285Although in Hungary, for decades, the calculation method of the square root of a real number is not in the mathematics curriculum, many of the taught concepts and procedures can be carried out using different square root finding methods. These provide an opportunity for students in secondary school to practice and deepen understand the compulsory curriculum. This article presents seven square-root- nding methods, currently teachable in secondary schools.
Subject Classification: A33, A34, F53, F54
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Solving word problems - a crucial step in lower secondary school education
47-68Views:307Algebra is considered one of the most important parts of Mathematics teaching and learning, because it lays the foundations of abstract thinking as well as reasoning abilities among the lower secondary school pupils who have just transited from the world of numbers and computations to the area of equalities, signs, symbols and letters. The present article focuses on the fact that how the transition from arithmetic to algebra can be made more smooth. We have concentrated our experiments towards the approach of algebraic reasoning and its utilities in filling the gap between arithmetic and beginning algebra in lower secondary school education.We also underline the importance of another approach in overcoming the challenges in the transition from arithmetic to algebra, to enhance and make algebraic learning more effective, with special considerations to word problem-solving processes. In our opinion, we have to go through three phases in the introducing of algebra in Grade 7 Mathematics education: Regula Falsi method (based only on numerical calculations); functional approach to algebra (which combines the numerical computation with letter-symbolic manipulation); and writing equations to word problems. The conclusions of the present article would be helpful to Mathematics teachers for applying themselves to develop the pupils’ interest in word problem-solving processes during algebra teaching classroom activities.
Subject Classification: 97B10, 97C30, 97C50, 97D10, 97D40
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Consequences of a virtual encounter with George Pólya
173-182Views:212The consequences of a virtual encounter with George Pólya as a teacher are recorded. An instance of his influence on my mathematical thinking is recounted through work on one of the problems in one of his books.
Subject Classification: 01A99, 11A05, 97-03, 97D50
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Willy Servais and Tamás Varga A Belgian Hungarian perspective on teaching school mathematics
29-38Views:201Willy Servais and Tamás Varga had a major influence on the development of mathematics education during the 1960s and 1970s, both in their home countries and internationally. In 1971 they jointly published Teaching School Mathematics–A Unesco Source Book, a review of curriculum reforms that were under way in different parts of the world. The book, presenting several modern syllabuses as well as examples of classroom techniques and segments of teacher-student dialogues, provided an often consulted guide to the field of mathematics education. We re-read this book and in this way acquire a unique insight into the modernization efforts of school mathematics during the 1960s and early 1970s. We take this opportunity to discuss the sometimes partly divergent views of Servais and Varga on modern mathematics education as reflected in this book.
Subject Classification: 97-03
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The shift of contents in prototypical tasks used in education reforms
203-219Views:176The paper discusses the shift of contents in prototypical tasks provoked by the current educational reform in Austria. The paper starts with the educational backboard of the process of changes in particular with the out tting of the students' abilities in different taxonomies and its implementation in the competence models of Mathematics. A methodological didactical point of view on the process is given additionally. Examples out of a specific collection of math problems which arise from the educational reform are integrated and analysed in the context of educational principles and methods. The discussion ends with a short evaluation of the role of traditional approaches to tasks in the ongoing reform. A bundle of tasks as proof that they are still alive is presented finally.
Subject Classification: 97B50, 97D40, 97D50
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Bemerkungen zur Prototypentheorie – Begriffs - und Konzeptbildung
365-389Views:122Psychological theories of prototypes are put forward by mathematical modelling. Some didactical consequences are discussed on the background of this analysis. By the help of an example (classification of convex quadrangles) hints are given for didactical interpretations of actual models of cognitive psychology dealing with problems of constructing prototypes. -
Better understanding mathematics by algorithmic thinking and computer programming
295-305Views:298Tamás Varga’s mathematics education experiment covered not just mathematics, but also other related topics. In many of his works he clearly stated that computer science can support the understanding of mathematics as much as mathematics supports informatics. On the other hand, not much later than the introduction of the new curriculum in 1978, personal computers started to spread, making it possible to teach informatics in classes and in extracurricular activities. Varga’s guided discovery approach has a didactic value for other age groups as well, not only in primary school. Its long-lasting effect can be observed even in present times. Having reviewed several educational results in the spirit of Tamás Varga, we have decided to present an extracurricular course. It is an open study group for age 12-18. Students solve problems by developing Python programs and, according to our experiences, this results in a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts.
Subject Classification: 97B10, 97B20, 97D50, 97N80, 97P20, 97P30, 97P40, 97P50, 97U70
