Aplicações de gamificação na educação em matemática: um mapeamento sistemático

The teaching of mathematics presents a series of great challenges, which are in a great number and variety. These challenges follow students since childhood. There are authors who argue that the mathematical concepts learned in secondary education have a more operational or practical nature, and it can interfere in the ability to learn more abstract mathematical concepts, taught in higher education. Traditional and technicist education based only on the teacher's view where he acts in the way he learned that was passed on to him over time is now a thing of the past. With the widespread use of the internet, computers and information technologies we live in a globalized world where new technologies are presented to us every day. Students in this context, where classes are totally traditional, feel discouraged and seek other activities to develop and spend time. Gamification can be defined as a methodology that is being used as the mechanisms of games, aesthetics and thinking of the game to involve people, motivate action, promote learning and problem solving. This systematic mapping selected 45 recent papers related to the use of gamification in mathematical learning and presents future directions in this research area.O ensino de matemática apresenta uma série de desafios, que são de grande número e variedade. Esses desafios seguem os alunos em vários níveis de escolaridade. Existem autores que argumentam que os conceitos matemáticos aprendidos no ensino médio têm uma natureza mais operacional ou prática e podem interferir na capacidade de aprender conceitos matemáticos mais abstratos, ensinados no ensino superior. Com o amplo uso da Internet, computadores e tecnologias da informação, vivemos em um mundo globalizado, onde novas tecnologias são apresentadas a nós todos os dias. Os alunos nesse contexto, onde as aulas são totalmente tradicionais, se sentem desencorajados e buscam outras atividades para desenvolver e passar o tempo. A gamificação pode ser definida como uma metodologia que está sendo usada como mecanismo de jogos, estética e pensamento do jogo para envolver as pessoas, motivar a ação, promover o aprendizado e a solução de problemas. Esse mapeamento sistemático selecionou 45 artigos recentes relacionados ao uso da gamificação no aprendizado de matemática e apresenta orientações futuras nessa área de pesquisa

Advancing sCool - Game Type Research and Development

The proposed project, sCool, is an adaptive game-based learning experience designed for STEM education. In this work, we present a new iteration of sCool in efforts to further examine contributing factors of engagement, usability, and comprehension. The newly developed game experience for acquiring object-oriented programming skills is divided into two parts: concept learning and practical challenge. The concept learning part teaches students theoretical lessons of programming through fun gameplay. The practical challenge part allows students to practice programming by completing tasks. This project presents several new game types for both the concept learning and practical challenge parts. The development of these game types spreads across two phases. The first phase introduces two new game types and focuses on extending sCool to support learning object-oriented programming and improve student’s learning comprehension. The second phase builds off of the first phase, introducing another new game type to improve the object-oriented programming learning experience and the game’s overall usability and engagement. During the first phase, three experiments were conducted in a classroom setting with a computer science teacher. Conducting a study involving a total of 39 school students and three teachers, we are able to successfully display an enhanced understanding of different programming concepts. During the second phase, a single experiment was held remotely among a wide group of people, and the participants were self-guided by an instruction document and the sCool application. Conducting a study with 25 participants, we are able to show a significant improvement in the game’s usability and engagement. For future works, further evaluations in-classroom and over a longer course will be useful in assessing the new game type’s effectiveness in teaching object oriented programming. Furthermore, the game should be expanded to support learning more complex concepts in object oriented programming

Exciting Young Students In Grades K-8 About STEM Through An Afterschool Robotics Challenge

In this paper, we describe the successful implementation of an afterschool LEGO robotics program for elementary and middle school students that is annually offered by the Whitacre College of Engineering at Texas Tech University. Three events are held on campus: the kickoff, a trial run, and the competition, spread over a period of eight weeks. In between the events, participants design their LEGO robots at the school, mostly during afterschool clubs. Through our program, we broaden the participation in hands-on robotics tasks which apply STEM concepts to groups that otherwise might not have the opportunity. Success factors of our implementation are the flexibility of the implementation at the local level, the inclusion of engineering students as mentors and volunteers, and the low cost for organizers and participants. We provide evidence that we have reached a diverse student population in grades K-8 and positively changed their attitudes toward STEM, then we report the benefits that teachers see in regular participation in the event. Finally, we describe the benefit of involving engineering undergraduate students as mentors and volunteers.

The Effect of Group Interactions and Group Structure on Achievement in Elementary School Robotics Classrooms

Jung and Won\u27s (2018) review of elementary school ER found a lack of understanding of instructional practices for ER with young children. Other researchers have called for further studies into what effective classroom orchestration and interaction look like within ER classrooms (Ioannou & Makridou, 2018; Xia & Zhong, 2019). This study was conducted to understand the effect of group interactions and group structure in terms of gender on achievement in elementary school robotics classes. Knowing the effect that interactions have on students\u27 achievement can help inform instructional practices and pedagogies in educational robotics activities (Kucuk & Sisman, 2017). The study was conducted at a primary school in Nonthaburi, Thailand. The participants included 103 second-grade students (44 male, 59 female). A mixed methods embedded research design was used as a framework to make observations of interactions, conduct a robotics assessment, and analyze the data from the assessment. Cooperative learning (CL), which is the use of instructional small groups to maximize learning (Johnson et al., 1999) was used as a lens for observing student interactions. Group processing, positive interdependence, and promotive interactions are some of the primary elements of CL and used as classifications of student interactions in the robotics classrooms and during the assessment. The robotics assessment consisted of multiple challenges where students were given a score in their skills of generalization, algorithmic thinking, and their Level of Achievement (LoA). The LoA was the sum of all the challenges completed. The mean scores of the students’ assessment results were analyzed using separate one-way ANOVAs to explore the effect of group structure and interaction types on achievement. It was found that the types of interactions in a group can have an effect on achievement depending on the types of robotics challenges. It was also found that gender did not have an effect on the student\u27s LoA during their robotics assessment, but it did have an effect on the types of interactions seen among students. It is recommended that for simpler robotics challenges that utilize basic generalization skills, instructors should try to facilitate promotive interactions within the classroom groups. For more advanced robotics challenges that utilize algorithmic thinking skills, instructors should try to facilitate group processing within their classroom groups

Attitudes of Pre-service Teachers Toward Computational Thinking in Education

The purpose of the study was to examine the attitudes of pre-service teachers toward computational thinking, before and after an intervention, to convey the importance of integrating computational thinking into K-12 curricula. The two-week, course-embedded intervention introduced pre-service teachers, with varying academic specialties, to computational thinking practices and their utility. The intervention employed the Scratch programming language tool including Scratch flashcards, everyday and interdisciplinary examples of computational thinking, and unplugged activities. The findings indicated that the intervention was an effective new way to convey the value of computational thinking to all sampled pre-service teachers, no matter their academic specialties or GPAs. Further research is recommended to investigate potential increases in pre-service teachers’ own computational thinking skills following from the intervention

LEARNING STATISTICS THROUGH GUIDED BLOCK PLAY: A PRE-CURRICULUM IN STATISTICAL LITERACY

Learning to use data to investigate the world and make decisions has become an essential skill for all citizens. Play and curiosity are powerful motivators for learning. Inquiry – the process of asking questions and seeking answers – can engage the natural curiosity of young learners and motivate early learning. Recent research in statistics education has shown that children as young as 4 and 5 years old can learn to collect, organize, and interpret data they acquire through observation, counting, and measuring in a process of guided inquiry. Guided block play has been used for over 100 years to enable children to interact with mathematical structures paving the way for abstract understanding. Jerome Bruner conjectured that playing with a concept in concrete form prepares the mind for later abstract understanding and can begin at any age. Interaction with an embodied concept engages sensorimotor faculties and initiates neuronal activity that leads to useable knowledge grounded in experience. The frequency distribution is a core concept of statistics. Simple wooden cubes can be arranged on a ruler in the form of an embodied frequency distribution. This multiple case study explores how interaction with concrete representations of data structures in guided block play vii can engage learners in grades K-2 and lay a foundation for understanding a data set as an aggregate with emergent properties of shape, spread, and center. Activity Theory provides a flexible theoretical framework for describing the interactions and explaining the outcomes of a series of exploratory tutorial sessions. It is further conjectured that this early experience with embodied learning enjoyed in the first years of formal schooling may prevent statistics anxiety and misconceptions in later years

Creating a Model and Professional Learning to Support the Design of Authentic Student Learning Tasks

This purpose of this dissertation in practice is to develop a learning/technology framework called the Authentic Learning with Technology Model, and six professional learning modules to help teachers design more authentic student learning tasks in their classrooms. Research shows that student academic performance increases when students are cognitively engaged in the classroom, which occurs when they experience challenging, authentic learning tasks. Learning frameworks, technology, and ongoing professional learning experiences can support teachers design authentic learning tasks when used effectively. Unfortunately, research demonstrates 1) schools rarely use consistent learning frameworks, 2) technology is limited to traditional teaching practices, and 3)professional learning is limited and ineffective. The study population of interest is New York City public school K-12 classroom teachers, principals, and academic coaches. Participants experienced six in-session professional development modules accompanied by additional online support resources in an iTunes U course. Participants selected and redesigned examples of their own student learning tasks to increase the level of authenticity, in part by the use of technology. Tasks were collected to demonstrate levels of authenticity before and after the professional development. 12 out of 15 tasks(80%) increased authenticity from learning and technology perspectives, 2 out of 15 tasks (13%) stayed at the same level of authenticity, and 1 task (7%) decreased in authenticity. Participants completed qualitative surveys to ascertain whether or not the professional development modules supported a shift in their thinking towards learning, technology, and authenticity of their tasks. A majority of participants found the ALTmodel effective in helping them rethink the extent to which their tasks engaged students in deeper cognition and effective technology use. Participants also felt the modules inspired them to change their short-term and long-term practice with respect to designing more authentic student learning experiences that effectively incorporate technology

Building Together: Problem Solving for Sustainability Consciousness

BUILDING TOGETHER: PROBLEM SOLVING FOR SUSTAINABILITY CONSCIOUSNESS FEBRUARY 2022 PAUL M. BOCKO, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE M.S., ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY NEW ENGLAND M.Ed. ANITOCH UNIVERSITY NEW ENGLAND Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Linda Griffin This case study examined the relationship of problem-based learning (PBL) and sustainability education in a combined fifth and sixth grade classroom in the northeast U.S. Research questions focused on PBL instructional strategies that promote sustainability education, skills and understandings promoted by PBL, and the extent that PBL affects students’ sustainability consciousness. One teacher and eleven students participated. Problem-posing, reconstructionist, and sociocultural theories framed the study. Relevant themes were identified in a review of sustainability consciousness (SC) and PreK-12 PBL research reports. The themes revealed that SC is a growing framework with which to assess sustainability education and PBL research has strong links with sustainability education learning outcomes. Survey, interview, artifact, and observational data were analyzed to understand the fifth and sixth grade class as a case study in sustainability education. Results include a learning environment that emphasizes a pedagogy of sustainable thinking, student exhibition of sustainability education skills and understandings, and a lack of quantitative evidence of growth in students’ SC contrasted with evidence of SC in students’ written work. Findings affirmed prior PBL research focused on group collaboration, interdependency, and reflection. The study identified the need to study PBL in real-world contexts rather than only through problem scenarios. Contributions to knowledge include adding to PBL research literature, highlighting the importance of learning experiences designed to meet a school’s mission, and increasing the use of a new survey instrument. Keywords: Sociocultural, reconstructionism, problem-based learning, wicked problems, sustainability education, scaffolding, collaboration, interdependency