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The transition problem in Hungary: curricular approach
1-16Views:298The curricular background of the transition problem from highschool to universty is analysed in Hungary. While students finish their mathematical studies successfully at highschool, pass their final exams, this knowledge seems to disappear at their first year at university. We investigate the mathematical knowledge expected by the Hungarian universities and compare it to expectations of the National Core Curriculum. Based on the levelling tests of four universities we created a seven problem test for highschool students containing very basic problems required both by the universities and the National Core Curriculum. We analyse the results of the test.
Subject Classification: D34, D35
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Assimilation of mathematical knowledge using Maple
321-331Views:127For more than four years we have been teaching a Maple course at University of Debrecen for prospective mathematics teachers. The aim of the course is that students get some experience on mathematical visualization with Maple. At the last part of the course the student is provided with a problem of geometrical flavor. Within three or four weeks he/she must obtain a solution. In this paper we present and analyze two of student projects: rotation of the hypercube and drawing of complex functions. The concluding remark is that most of the students will profit from using Maple for such type of problems: it helps to assimilate mathematical knowledge. -
The tools for developing a spatial geometric approach
207-216Views:193Tamás 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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Comment les enseignants en formation initiale utilisent les technologies informatiques dans leurs classes
187-208Views:160The research presented here deals with the way French pre-service teachers assimilate the working of technology tools and the effects on professional practice of integrating these tools into classes. We focused on the professional writings of pre-service teachers regarding the use of technology in their teaching. The results show that, besides official instructions, the motivations put forward by pre-service teachers who integrated technology in their classes are mainly their students' interest in computers and how powerful this tool is. They also show that in such an environment teachers tend to keep in the background and to leave the students to interact chiefly with the computer. We also noticed that the specificities of managing a classroom in computer environment are not taken into account unless they generate problems.
Résumé. La recherche présentée ici porte sur l'appropriation des outils informatiques par les enseignants français en formation initiale et les effets de leur intégration dans les classes sur les pratiques professionnelles. Nous avons pris comme objet d'étude des écrits professionnels, élaborés par ces professeurs stagiaires, portant sur l'utilisation des TIC dans leur enseignement. Les résultats obtenus font apparaître qu'outre les injonctions institutionnelles, les motivations invoquées par les stagiaires pour recourir à l'informatique concernent surtout l'attrait de leurs élèves pour l'ordinateur et la puissance de cet outil. Dans le cadre des usages en classe, nos résultats montrent que l'enseignant a tendance à s'effacer devant l'ordinateur, considéré comme l'interlocuteur privilégié de l'élève. Nous avons aussi pu constater que les spécificités de la gestion de la classe en environnement informatique ne sont prises en compte que lorsqu'elles se révèlent sources de problèmes. -
Learning and teaching combinatorics with Sage
389-398Views:178Learning Mathematics is not an easy task, since this subject works with especially abstract concepts and sophisticated deductions. Many students lose their interest in the subject due to lack of success. Computer algebra systems (CAS) provide new ways of learning and teaching Mathematics. Numerous teachers use them to demonstrate concepts, deductions and algorithms and to make learning process more interesting especially in higher education. It is an even more efficient way to improve the learning process, if students can use the system themselves, which helps them to practice the curriculum.
Sage is a free, open-source math software system that supports research and teaching algebra, analysis, geometry, number theory, cryptography, numerical computation, and related areas. I have been using it for several years to aid the instruction of Discrete Mathematics at Óbuda University. In this article I show some examples how representations provided by this system can help in teaching combinatorics. -
Examples of analogies and generalizations in synthetic geometry
19-39Views:130Teaching tools and different methods of generalizations and analogies are often used at different levels of education. Starting with primary grades, the students can be guided through simple aspects of collateral development of their studies. In middle school, high school and especially in entry-level courses in higher education, the extension of logical tools are possible and indicated.
In this article, the authors present an example of generalization and then of building the analogy in 3-D space for a given synthetic geometric problem in 2-D.
The idea can be followed, extended and developed further by teachers and students as well. -
Why do we complicate the solution of the problem? reflection of Finnish students and teachers on a mathematical summer camp
405-415Views:208This paper deals with reactions and reflections of Finnish secondary school students and teachers on Hungarian mathematics teaching culture. The experiences were collected at a mathematics summer camp in Hungary. -
Demonstrating the feature of energy saving of transforms in secondary schools
43-55Views:138When we are teaching the digital image formats and we are explaining the JPEG format we may get into difficulties how to explain the point and the usefulness of the discrete cosine transform (DCT) to our students. Why do we need this transform before compressing? Students probably do not know that the feature of energy saving of this transform makes the chance of good compression. In this article we show how we can demonstrate that feature of these transforms which make the chance of good compression while saving the most energy of images. -
Lehre der Trigonometrie anhand realistischer Aufgaben im Online-Unterricht
87-105Views:215The aim of our study was to explore the effects of the active use of realistic exercises in the field of trigonometry. We taught a group of 14 pupils, who were in grade 11. The most of them told us they did not plan mathematics-related studies in the future. We included realistic exercises into our teaching plan, which covered the fields of scalar product, as well as the sine and cosine theorems. Our teaching experiment was done within the framework of online teaching. Effects on the motivation, performance and results of the students were taken into consideration. We also attempted to examine the effects of online teaching on motivation and whether the use of realistic exercises is worthwhile in an online classroom environment. Performance of the students showed a tendency of improvement when they were dealing with the material through realistic exercises even despite the teaching happened online.
Subject Classification: 97C70, 97D40, 97G60
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Teaching sorting in ICT
101-117Views:190This article is aimed at considering how an algorithmic problem – more precisely a sorting problem – can be used in an informatics class in primary and secondary education to make students mobilize the largest possible amount of their intellectual skills in the problem solving process. We will be outlining a method which essentially forces students to utilize their mathematical knowledge besides algorithmization in order to provide an efficient solution. What is more, they are expected to use efficiently a tool that has so far not been associated with creative thinking. Sorting is meant to be just an example, through which our thoughts can easily be demonstrated, but – of course the method of education outlined can be linked to several other algorithmic problems, as well. -
Recalling calculus knowledge
55-70Views:123The main purpose of educational system is not only that the students perform well at the exam, but to remember the learnt material to some degree some time after the learning. This paper investigates students' retained knowledge, focusing mainly on topics concerning derivatives and differentiation, and examines the effect of re-learning in a short period of time. Results indicate that retained knowledge should be taken into consideration in instructional design and curriculum planning for the sequencing courses. -
How to teach computer programming if our goal is the International Olympiad in Informatics
13-25Views:182Nowadays if a student in Hungary (age between 17-20 years old) wants to be the member of the Hungarian selected team (has four members) to participate in the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), first, he has to qualify himself in the first fifteen of the National Secondary School Competition (OKTV) in the programming category after the III. round. Then he should be in the first four place after the sixth round of the Selection Competition. Being successful is necessary that the student wants to start studying computer programming at least in the 9th school year and he needs a teacher who prepares him. In the last nine years three students of the author have participated in five Olympics and two of them won gold and bronze medals. This article wants to demonstrate the methods that a teacher needs to use to teach students in 9th school year for computer programming, to be the member of the Hungarian National Team after three or four years. -
Comparative geometry on plane and sphere: didactical impressions
81-101Views:66Description of experiences in teaching comparative geometry for prospective teachers of primary schools. We focus on examples that refer to changes in our students' thinking, in their mathematical knowledge and their learning and teaching attitudes. At the beginning, we expected from our students familiarity with the basics of the geographic coordinate system, such as North and South Poles, Equator, latitudes and longitudes. Spherical trigonometry was not dealt with in the whole project. -
A retrospective look at discovery learning using the Pósa Method in three Hungarian secondary mathematics classrooms
183-202Views:360While the Pósa Method was originally created for mathematical talent management through extracurricular activities, three "average" public secondary school classrooms in Hungary have taken part in a four-year experiment to implement the Pósa Method, which is based on guided discovery learning of mathematics. In this paper, we examine the students' and teachers' reflections on the Pósa Method, and how student perspectives have changed between their first and last year of high school. Overall, teachers and students had a positive experience with the Pósa Method. Furthermore, our research indicated that this implementation has met several objectives of the Pósa Method, including enjoyment of mathematics and autonomous thinking.
Subject Classification: 97D40
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The theory of functional equations in high school education
345-360Views:204In this paper, we are going to discuss some possible applications of the theory of functional equations in high school education. We would like to line up some problems, the solution of which by functional equations are mostly not new results – they have also been treated in [1] and [2] –, although their demonstrations in high school can show a new way in teaching of talented students. The area of the rectangle, the calculating method of compound interest, binomial coefficients, Euler's formula, the scalar product and the vector product of vectors – we are looking for the reasons behind the well-known formulas. Finally, we are going to give a functional equation in connection with mean values. It can be understood easily, but its solution is beyond the high school curriculum, so we advise this part only to the most talented students. -
The role of computer in the process of solving of mathematical problems (results of research)
67-80Views:161We would like to present results of an almost two years investigations about the role computer in the process of solving of mathematical problems. In these investigations took part 35 students of the secondary school (generalists) in the age 17–19 years. Each of these students solved following problem:
Find all values of the parameter m so that the function
f(x) = |mx + 1| − |2x − m| is:
a) bounded,
b) bounded only from the bottom,
c) bounded only from above,
first without a computer and next with a special computer program. We would like to show results of these researches. -
Apollonius' problems in grammar school
69-85Views:160In this work there are ten problems of Apollonius listed with illustrations and solution possibilities including students' solutions, too. Usually, it is rather difficult for students to grasp the essence of these problems with the use of traditional means, bows and rulers, but the use of computers offers higher accuracy. -
Report on the Conference of History of Mathematics and Teaching of Mathematics: research in History of Mathematics and Teaching of Mathematics : University of Szeged 19-23 May, 2010, Szeged, Hungary
319-338Views:224The 6th Conference on the History of Mathematics and Teaching of Mathematics was held in Szeged (Hungary). Its motto reads as:
Mathematics – a common language for Europe for thousand years.
The aim of the conference was to present aspects of History of Mathematics, including its impact on Teaching of Mathematics, to provide a forum to meet each other, and to give an opportunity for young researchers to present their results in these fields. University colleagues, students, graduate students and other researchers were invited. The programme of the Conference included talks and posters. The abstracts of the lectures and the posters are presented in this report. There were 24 presentations and poster lectures. -
Heads or Tails gambling — what can be learned about probability?
15-41Views:177During the teaching of probability theory, a problem may appear whose solution requires the use of methods that are unfamiliar to secondary school students. In this paper, examples of methods that can resolve this difficulties are demonstrated, which could in future allow school students to tackle and solve a wide variety of problems involving probability. -
Teaching centroids in theory and in practice
67-88Views:232The main aim of this paper is to present an inquiry-based professional development activity about the teaching of centroids and to highlight some common misconceptions related to centroids. The second aim is to emphasize a major hindering factor in planning inquiry based teaching/learning activities connected with abstract mathematical notions. Our basic problem was to determine the centroid of simple systems such as: systems of collinear points, arbitrary system of points, polygons, polygonal shapes. The only inconvenience was that we needed practical activities where students could validate their findings and calculations with simple tools. At this point we faced the following situation: we have an abstract definition for the centroid of a finite system of points, while in practice we don't even have such systems. The same is valid for geometric objects like triangles, polygons. In practice we have triangular objects, polygonal shapes (domains) and not triangles, polygons. Thus in practice for validating the centroid of a system formed by 4,5,... points we also need the centroid of a polygonal shape, formed by an infinite number of points. We could use, of course, basic definitions, but our intention was to organize inquiry based learning activities, where students can understand fundamental concepts and properties before defining them. -
Task reformulation as a practical tool for formation of electronic digest of tasks
1-27Views:155Creative 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. -
Looking back on Pólya’s teaching of problem solving
207-217Views:538This article is a personal reflection on Pólya's work on problem solving, supported by a re-reading of some of his books and viewing his film Let Us Teach Guessing. Pólya's work has had lasting impact on the goals of school mathematics, especially in establishing solving problems (including non-routine problems) as a major goal and in establishing the elements of how to teach for problem solving. His work demonstrated the importance of choosing rich problems for students to explore, equipping them with some heuristic strategies and metacognitive awareness of the problem solving process, and promoting 'looking back' as a way of learning from the problem solving experience. The ideas are all still influential. What has changed most is the nature of classrooms, with the subsequent appreciation of a supporting yet challenging classroom where students work collaboratively and play an active role in classroom discussion.
Subject Classification: 97D50, 97A30
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The hyperbola and Geogebra in high-school instruction
277-285Views:181In this article the results of teaching/learning hyperbola and its characteristics in high-school using computers and GeoGebra are shown. Students involved in the research attend Engineering School "Nikola Tesla" in Leposavic, Serbia. The aim of the research was to define ways and volume of computer and GeoGebra usage in mathematics instruction in order to increase significantly students' mathematical knowledge and skills. -
Fostering engineering freshmen’s shifts of attention by using Matlab LiveScript for solving mathematical tasks
1-14Views:270We 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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Synthesis of concurrent programs
301-317Views:94Students need a well defined method to be successful in the complex process of writing a concurrent program. In this paper we show a step by step method to create such programs. The method based on UML which has been thought to students during previous courses. UML provides standard and relatively simple tools to describe concurrent systems, and from the description the program can be derived.
First we give a brief introduction to the concurrent systems. This is followed by the description of the method, and finally we demonstrate the method on a small problem.
