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• The requirements in statistics education – comparison of PISA mathematical tasks and tasks from the mathematical textbooks in the field of statistics

  263-275

  Dubravka Glasnović Gracin

  Predrag Vuković

  Views:

  32

  This work presents the results of the analysis of both PISA items and Croatian mathematical textbooks in the field of statistics.
  The analysis shows that PISA's released statistics problems have in many ways different mathematical requirements from the requirements of textbook problems in the statistics chapters, with respect to the mathematical activities, complexity and in the forms of questions. The textbook analysis shows that mathematical examples and problems often require operation and interpretation skills on a reproductive or connections level. Statistics textbook problems are given in the closed-answer form. The results also show that while PISA puts strong emphasis on the statistics field, in the current Croatian curriculum this field is barely present. These discrepancies in requirements and portion of statistics activities surely affect the results of Croatian pupils on PISA assessment in the field of mathematical literacy.

• The appearance of the characteristic features of the mathematical thinking in the thinking of a chess player

  201-211

  Anita Misetáné Burján

  Views:

  31

  It is more and more important in 21st century's education that not only facts and subject knowledge should be taught but also the ways and methods of thinking should be learnt by students. Thinking is a human specificity which is significant both in mathematics and chess. The exercises aimed at beginner chess players are appropriate to demonstrate to students the mathematical thinking of 12-14 year-old students.
  Playing chess is an abstract activity. During the game we use abstract concepts (e.g. sacrifice, stalemate). When solving a chess problem we use logical quantifiers frequently (e.g. in the case of any move of white, black has a move that...). Among the endgames we find many examples (e.g. exceptional draw options) that state impossibility. Affirmation of existence is frequent in a mate position with many moves. We know there is a mate but the question in these cases is how it can be delivered.
  We present the chess problem on beginners' level although these exercises appear in the game of advanced players and chess masters too, in a more complex form. We chose the mathematical tasks from arithmetic, number theory, geometry and the topic of equations. Students encounter these in classes, admission exams and student circles. Revealing the common features of mathematical and chess thinking shows how we can help the development of students' mathematical skills with the education of chess.

• The investigation of students' skills in the process of function concept creation

  249-266

  Gyöngyi Szanyi

  Views:

  17

  Function is a basic concept of mathematics, in particular, mathematical analysis. After an analysis of the function concept development process, I propose a model of rule following and rule recognition skills development that combines features of the van Hiele levels and the levels of language about function [11]. Using this model I investigate students' rule following and rule recognition skills from the viewpoint of the preparation for the function concept of sixth grade students (12-13 years old) in the Ukrainian and Hungarian education system.

• Teaching puzzle-based learning: development of transferable skills

  245-268

  Nickolas Falkner

  Raja Sooriamurthi

  Zbigniew Michalewicz

  Views:

  30

  While computer science and engineering students are trained to recognise familiar problems with known solutions, they may not be sufficiently prepared to address novel real-world problems. A successful computer science graduate does far more than just program and we must train our students to reach the required levels of analytical and computational thinking, rather than hoping that it will just 'develop'. As a step in this direction, we have created and experimented with a new first-year level course, Puzzle-based Learning (PBL), that is aimed at getting students to think about how to frame and solve unstructured problems. The pedagogical goal is increase students' mathematical awareness and general problem solving skills by employing puzzles, which are educational, engaging, and thought provoking. In this paper we continue sharing our experiences in teaching such a course. Whereas a brief discussion on our pedagogical objectives were covered in the first paper together with the material of the first of two lectures on pattern recognition, this follow-up paper presents the material of the second of two lectures, in which additional exercises are discussed to reinforce the lesson. Along the way we provide a glimpse of some foundational ideas of computer science such as incomputability and general system development strategies such as incremental and iterative reasoning. This paper discusses the outcomes of PBL courses, which include expected improvement in the overall results achieved by students who have undertaken PBL courses, compared to those students who have not.

• Solving mathematical problems by using Maple factorization algorithms

  293-297

  Mária Princz

  Views:

  27

  Computer algebra gives methods for manipulating mathematical expression. In this paper we use the Maple software to solve some elementary problems. Computeraided approach in the instruction of mathematics helps to impart problem solving skills to students.

• Teaching graph algorithms with Visage

  35-50

  Andreas Fest

  Ulrich Kortenkamp

  Views:

  16

  Combinatorial optimization is a substantial pool for teaching authentic mathematics. Studying topics in combinatorial optimization practice different mathematical skills, and because of this have been integrated into the new Berlin curriculum for secondary schools. In addition, teachers are encouraged to use adequate teaching software. The presented software package "Visage" is a visualization tool for graph algorithms. Using the intuitive user interface of an interactive geometry system (Cinderella), graphs and networks can be drawn very easily and different textbook algorithms can be visualized on the graphs. An authoring tool for interactive worksheets and the usage of the build-in programming interface offer new ways for teaching graphs and algorithms in a classroom.

• Analysis of the affective factors of learning mathematics among teacher trainees

  225-254

  Erzsébet Zsinkó

  Views:

  32

  The Hungarian National Core Curricula gives primacy to the development of abilities and the practical application of knowledge. The task of the training programme is primarily to prepare teacher trainees for the teaching and educating profession. As teachers, they are going to plan, organize, help, guide, control and evaluate the learning of mathematics of individuals and groups of students from the age of 6 to 10 (12), and cultivate their mathematical skills, thinking and positive attitude towards any mathematical activities. In order to train educators who are able to meet the above requirements on high standard, it is necessary to update the teacher training programme based on the trainees' preliminary knowledge and motivation level.
  The key to learn about the child's mind and achieve conscious development is the systematization of factual knowledge and methodological awareness. The modern, flexible approach to subject pedagogy, based on pedagogy, psychology and epistemology, qualifies trainees to educate learners who understand and like mathematics. Therefore, it is essential to develop the trainees' positive approach to mathematics and arouse their demand for continuous professional improvement. (Programme of the four-year primary school teacher training, 1995.)
  In our research we are looking for ways of ascertaining the starting parameters which have influence on the planning of the studies of mathematics and subject pedagogy. In this article we introduce a questionnaire by the means of which we collected information on the trainees' attitude and its changing towards mathematics. With the help of the analysis of the answers we paint a picture of the ELTE TÓFK (Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Elementary and Nursery School Teacher's Training) third year students' attitude to the subject, and we compare it to the tendencies noticed in the mass education. The energy invested in learning is influenced by the assumption of the relevance and importance of the subjects. Therefore we considered it also our task to reveal. Besides the students' attitude toward mathematics and their assumption about their own competence we have collected data also on their performance in the subject. Summarising the research results we show the advantages of the questionnaire, and summarise the observations which would indicate need for methodological changes in the mathematics teacher training.

• CAS as a didactical challenge

  379-393

  Edith Schneider

  Views:

  29

  The paper starts with the discussion of a concept of general mathematics education (mathematics education for everyone). This concept views the focus of teaching mathematics in the reduction of the demands in the field of operative knowledge and skills as well as in an increase of the demands in the fields of basic knowledge and reflection. The consequences of this concept are didactically challenging for the use of Computer Algebra Systems (CAS) in the teaching of mathematics. By reducing the operative work we reduce exactly that field in which the original potential of CAS lies. It is shown that in such maths classes the main focus of CAS is on their use as a pedagogical tool, namely as support for the development of basic knowledge and reflection as well as a model of communication with mathematical experts.

• Teaching sorting in ICT

  101-117

  Péter Szlávi

  Gábor Törley

  Views:

  29

  This 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.

• Report on the "English Language Section of Varga Tamás Days 2009"

  169-175

  Krisztina Barczi

  Views:

  28

  The 9th English Language Section as a part of the Varga Tamás Days was organised by the Department of Mathematics Education at the Teacher Training Institute of the Eötvös Loránd University. We report on the talks and the following discussions in this section.

• Teaching puzzle-based learning: development of basic concepts

  183-204

  Nickolas Falkner

  Raja Sooriamurthi

  Zbigniew Michalewicz

  Views:

  10

  While computer science and engineering students are trained to recognise familiar problems with known solutions, they may not be sufficiently prepared to address novel real-world problems. A successful computer science graduate does far more than just program and we must train our students to reach the required levels of analytical and computational thinking, rather than hoping that it will just 'develop'. As a step in this direction, we have created and experimented with a new first-year level course, Puzzle-based Learning (PBL), that is aimed at getting students to think about how to frame and solve unstructured problems. The pedagogical goal is increase students' mathematical awareness and general problem solving skills by employing puzzles, which are educational, engaging, and thought provoking. We share our experiences in teaching such a course – apart from a brief discussion on our pedagogical objectives, we concentrate on discussing the presented material which covers (in two lectures) just one selected topic (pattern recognition). In this paper we present the ideas behind foundations for PBL and the material of the first of two lectures on pattern recognition, in which we address core concepts and provide students with sufficient exemplars to illustrate the main points.

• The hyperbola and Geogebra in high-school instruction

  277-285

  Eugen Ljajko

  Milan Mihajlović

  Zlatka Pavličić

  Views:

  30

  In 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.