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• Promoting a meaningful learning of double integrals through routes of digital tasks

  107-134

  Francesca Alessio

  Lucio Demeio

  Agnese Ilaria Telloni

  Views:

  415

  Within a wider project aimed at innovating the teaching of mathematics for freshmen, in this study we describe the design and the implementation of two routes of digital tasks aimed at fostering students' approach to double integrals. The tasks are built on a formative assessment frame and classical works on problem solving. They provide facilitative and response-specific feedback and the possibility to request different hints. In this way, students may be guided to the development of well-connected knowledge, operative and decision-making skills. We investigated the effects of the interaction with the digital tasks on the learning of engineering freshmen, by comparing the behaviours of students who worked with the digital tasks (experimental group, N=19) and students who did not (control group, N=19). We detected that students in the experimental group showed more exibility of thinking and obtained better results in the final exam than students in the control group. The results confirmed the effectiveness of the experimental educational path and offered us interesting indications for further studies.

  Subject Classification: 97D40, 97U70, 44A45

• Virtual manipulatives in inquiry-based approach of 3D problems by French 5th graders

  229-240

  Ecaterina Pacurar

  Claude-Alexandre Magot

  Richard Cabassut

  Yohan Solon

  Views:

  219

  The aim of this research is to study the appropriation of a 3D environment by learners in an a-didactical situation of problem solving. We try to evaluate the relevance of the virtual 3D environment in the development of students' cognitive and metacognitive abilities. We implanted a problem-solving activity related to a 3D cube situation with an empty part in the cube in different French primary school areas in May 2019. In the experimental group each learner works individually with a PC-computer where the virtual environment ANIPPO is implemented. In the control group the pupils work in a traditional class environment. We present the results of this pre-experimentation.

  Subject Classification: 97D50, 97U60, 97U70

• Fostering engineering freshmen’s shifts of attention by using Matlab LiveScript for solving mathematical tasks

  1-14

  Giovannina Albano

  Agnese Ilaria Telloni

  Views:

  264

  We 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

• Integrating elements of data science into high-school teaching: Naïve Bayes-classification algorithm and programming in Python

  307-316

  Ödön Vancsó

  Péter Princz

  Views:

  261

  Probability theory and mathematical statistics are traditionally one of the most difficult chapters of mathematics to teach. One of the authors, Péter Princz has experience in teaching various topics via computer programming of the problem at hand as a class activity. The proposed method is to involve programming as a didactic tool in hard-to-teach topics. The intended goal in this case is to implement a naïve Bayes-classifier algorithm in Python and demonstrate the machine-learning capabilities of it by applying it to a real-world dataset of edible or poisonous mushrooms. The students would implement the algorithm in a playful and interactive way. The proposed incremental development process aligns well with the spirit of Tamás Varga who considered computers as modern tools of experimental problem solving as early as in the 1960s.

  Subject Classification: 97D40, 97D50, 97K50, 97K99, 97M60, 97P40, 97P50, 97U50

• Better understanding mathematics by algorithmic thinking and computer programming

  295-305

  Katalin Fried

  István Fekete

  Péter Princz

  Views:

  300

  Tamás 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