Konstruktionsbeschreibungen und DGS

Die Fähigkeit zur Formalisierung von Konstruktionsbeschreibungen ist ein Ziel im Mathematikunter-richt. Oft mangelt es Schülerinnen und Schülern an der notwendigen Strenge. Dabei ist unklar, wie genau eigentlich eine solche Beschreibung sein muss. Aus der Entwicklung eines gemeinsamen Dateiformates für DGS heraus stammt eine Betrachtungs-weise, die die mathematische Beschreibung von Konstruktionen vereinfacht. Eine klare Trennung von Objekten und ihren Beziehungen zueinander hilft nicht nur dem Computer, sondern sowohl Lehrper-sonen als auch Lernenden, den Kerngedanken einer Konstruktion zu verstehen. Dies hat nicht nur Einfluss auf die Verschriftlichung von Konstruktionen, sondern auch auf den Umgang mit DGS all-gemein (Konstruktionsreihenfolge, Umkehrung von Konstruktionen, freie/abhängige Elemente). Wir stellen zudem vor, wie das neue i2g-Format, welches im Intergeo-Projekt (http://i2geo.net) entwi-ckelt wurde, den Datenaustausch zwischen verschiedenen Geometrie-Programmen ermöglicht (hier: GeoGebra und Cinderella)

Fostering process skills with the educational technology software MathemaTIC in elementary schools

This study reports the use of automated tutoring and scaffolding implemented in the module “arithmetic word problem” in the educational technology software MathemaTIC in grade 3 (age 8 to 10). We examined 246 students with access to MathemaTIC and receiving tutoring and scaffolding through a one-to-one learning setting with this technology. The control group (n=226) had access to the same learning tasks and worked with paper-and-pencil without MathemaTIC but with their teachers. Results showed that the experimental group finished with higher outcome scores than the control group. This paper will outline the study and attempts to explain these results

Connecting the real world to mathematical models in elementary schools in Luxemburg

In the Luxemburgish national curriculum for elementary schools (MENFP, 2011) experimentations and discoveries of mathematics concepts in courses are strongly recommended. Elementary school teachers should engage students in active mathematical modelling approaches, where they can develop processes and content skills through discoveries. Moreover, learned skills should be connected to real-world problems and situations to foster a better understanding of students’ living environments. Nevertheless, this teaching culture in mathematics is unusual in elementary schools and teachers tend to teach based on textbooks. Students mostly learn mathematics by imitation and repetition rather than through modelling mathematics with real-world problems and situations. Thus, to develop new methodologies in teaching mathematics and to meet the requirements of the national curriculum, we designed different technology-enhanced teaching and learning methods to engage students in experimental approaches within and outside classrooms. Moreover, we conducted three studies with digital and physical modelling, augmented reality, and a tutoring system in elementary school mathematics courses. Based on our collected data, we identified settings and tasks likely to support active mathematical modelling approaches

Can you create? Visualising and modelling real-world mathematics with technologies in STEAM educational settings

peer reviewedIn the past three decades, and especially accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, technology-assisted learning and teaching, and particularly in our case dynamic mathematics software in science-technology-engineering-arts-mathematics (STEAM) settings are becoming increasingly important. More recently, the development of more advanced mathematics-related technologies such as augmented reality, computer-aided design software, 3D printing, and global positioning system-enabled visualisations and modulations of mathematical concepts and the development of different behaviours in learning and teaching. These advanced technologies could enable students to more easily become creators, develop simulations, and utilise multiple representations of real-world or abstract objects by applying their mathematical and modelling skills. In addition, through such approaches, mathematical modelling and visualisations facilitated crossing subject boundaries in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and more recently STEAM fields. Consequently, there is an increased amount of research connecting students’ visualisations and modelling of their real-world environments and working on real-world problems with these technologies. In this paper, we reviewed promising research within the past two years on the uses of advanced technologies in mathematics, and in a broad sense STEAM education, circling around the question ‘Can you create?’ and how such novel approaches could impact behaviours of students and teachers in the current educational circumstances

Genes of the most conserved WOX clade in plants affect root and flower development in Arabidopsis

Background: The Wuschel related homeobox (WOX) family proteins are key regulators implicated in the determination of cell fate in plants by preventing cell differentiation. A recent WOX phylogeny, based on WOX homeodomains, showed that all of the Physcomitrella patens and Selaginella moellendorffii WOX proteins clustered into a single orthologous group. We hypothesized that members of this group might preferentially share a significant part of their function in phylogenetically distant organisms. Hence, we first validated the limits of the WOX13 orthologous group (WOX13 OG) using the occurrence of other clade specific signatures and conserved intron insertion sites. Secondly, a functional analysis using expression data and mutants was undertaken. Results: The WOX13 OG contained the most conserved plant WOX proteins including the only WOX detected in the highly proliferating basal unicellular and photosynthetic organism Ostreococcus tauri. A large expansion of the WOX family was observed after the separation of mosses from other land plants and before monocots and dicots have arisen. In Arabidopsis thaliana, AtWOX13 was dynamically expressed during primary and lateral root initiation and development, in gynoecium and during embryo development. AtWOX13 appeared to affect the floral transition. An intriguing clade, represented by the functional AtWOX14 gene inside the WOX13 OG, was only found in the Brassicaceae. Compared to AtWOX13, the gene expression profile of AtWOX14 was restricted to the early stages of lateral root formation and specific to developing anthers. A mutational insertion upstream of the AtWOX14 homeodomain sequence led to abnormal root development, a delay in the floral transition and premature anther differentiation. Conclusion: Our data provide evidence in favor of the WOX13 OG as the clade containing the most conserved WOX genes and established a functional link to organ initiation and development in Arabidopsis, most likely by preventing premature differentiation. The future use of Ostreococcus tauri and Physcomitrella patens as biological models should allow us to obtain a better insight into the functional importance of WOX13 OG genes

The protein kinases AtMAP3Kε1 and BnMAP3Kε1 are functional homologues of S. pombe cdc7p and may be involved in cell division

We identified an Arabidopsis thaliana gene, AtMAP3Kε1, and a Brassica napus cDNA, BnMAP3Kε1, encoding functional protein serine/threonine kinases closely related to cdc7p and Cdc15p from Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively. This is the first report of cdc7-related genes in non-fungal eukaryotes; no such genes have as yet been identified in Metazoans. The B. napus protein is able to partially complement a cdc7 loss of function mutation in S. pombe. RT–PCR and in situ hybridisation revealed that the A. thaliana and B. napus genes are expressed in both the sporophytic and the gametophytic tissues of the respective plant species and revealed further that expression is highest in dividing cells. Moreover, AtMAP3Kε1 gene expression is cell cycle-regulated, with higher expression in G2-M phases. Our results strongly suggest that the plant cdc7p-related protein kinases are involved in a signal transduction pathway similar to the SIN pathway, which positively regulates cytokinesis in S. pombe.This work was mainly supported by a EU grant (SIME project BIOTEC-RTD-CEE PL 960275). The authors also acknowledge the financial support of the MERS and CNRS to UMR 8618, and DGESIG PB98–0678

PIAF: Developing Computational and Algorithmic Thinking in Fundamental Education

Full text available at http://www.learntechlib.org/p/217317/International audienceIn this article, we present the objectives and first achievements of the PIAF project supported by the European Union and aiming at developing computational and algorithmic thinking in basic education. This project brings together researchers in educational sciences and computer science from four countries (Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg) around the theme of teacher training. More concretely, the aim is to define a framework (competency framework, pedagogical scenarios) enabling teachers to (i) appropriate the concept of computational and algorithmic thinking and (ii) implement learning activities that promote the development of this kind of thinking in children

PIAF : développer la Pensée Informatique et Algorithmique dans l'enseignement Fondamental

Version étendue d'un article présenté au colloque Didapro8.Dans cet article, nous présentons les objectifs et premières réalisations du projet PIAF soutenu par l'Union Européenne et visant à développer l'apprentissage de la pensée informatique et algorithmique dans l'enseignement fondamental. Ce projet rassemble des chercheur·e·s en sciences de l'éducation et en informatique, provenant de quatre pays (Allemagne, Belgique, France et Luxembourg), autour du thème de la formation des enseignant·e·s. Plus concrètement, il s'agit de dénir un cadre (référentiel de compétences, scénarios pédagogiques) permettant aux enseignant·e·s de (i) s'approprier le concept de pensée informatique et algorithmique et de (ii) mettre en ÷uvre des activités d'apprentissage favorisant le développement de cette pensée chez l'enfant

PIAF : développer la Pensée Informatique et Algorithmique dans l'enseignement Fondamental

Version étendue d'un article présenté au colloque Didapro8.Dans cet article, nous présentons les objectifs et premières réalisations du projet PIAF soutenu par l'Union Européenne et visant à développer l'apprentissage de la pensée informatique et algorithmique dans l'enseignement fondamental. Ce projet rassemble des chercheur·e·s en sciences de l'éducation et en informatique, provenant de quatre pays (Allemagne, Belgique, France et Luxembourg), autour du thème de la formation des enseignant·e·s. Plus concrètement, il s'agit de dénir un cadre (référentiel de compétences, scénarios pédagogiques) permettant aux enseignant·e·s de (i) s'approprier le concept de pensée informatique et algorithmique et de (ii) mettre en ÷uvre des activités d'apprentissage favorisant le développement de cette pensée chez l'enfant

PIAF : développer la Pensée Informatique et Algorithmique dans l'enseignement Fondamental

International audienceDans cet article, nous présentons les objectifs et premières réalisations du projet PIAF soutenu par l'Union Européenne et visant à développer l'apprentissage de la pensée informatique et algorithmique dans l'enseignement fondamental. Ce projet rassemble des chercheur·e·s en sciences de l'éducation et en informatique, provenant de quatre pays (Allemagne, Belgique, France et Luxembourg), autour du thème de la formation des enseignant·e·s. Plus concrètement, il s'agit de dénir un cadre (référentiel de compétences, scénarios pédagogiques) permettant aux enseignant·e·s de (i) s'approprier le concept de pensée informatique et algorithmique et de (ii) mettre en ÷uvre des activités d'apprentissage favorisant le développement de cette pensée chez l'enfant