Juego y aprendizaje matemático en educación infantil. Investigación en didáctica de las matemáticas

El interés en la investigación matemática en educación infantil ha crecido considerablemente en la última década. La aparición de grupos de investigación internacional, como el Early Years Mathematics Groups of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education, o a nivel español el grupo de Investigación en Educación Matemática Infantil de la Sociedad Española de Investigación en Educación Matemática son ejemplos de la relevancia que está adoptando esta área de investigación. Los estudios que se presentan en estos grupos son de diversas temáticas debido a las particularidades de cada contexto: planes de estudio, currículums, tipologías de centros, marcos metodológicos y focos de interés. En este artículo nos centraremos en algunas contribuciones relevantes relacionadas con el juego y el aprendizaje matemático en educación infantil, a la vez que mostramos la emergencia y consolidación de un área de investigación reciente en didáctica de la matemática.

Taxonomy of Key Terms for Mathematics Education

We present the process of developing a taxonomy of key terms for Mathematics Education. We build on the existing taxonomy of key terms that has been used in an open access document repository. Additionally, we took into account terms that have been established in encyclopedias of the discipline and the frequency of use of keywords in specialized journals that were indexed in Scopus and Web of Science. We made a review of synonymy between these terms and the terms of the existing taxonomy. We included in our proposal the terms that are relevant given their frequency of use in the journals. We removed from the existing taxonomy the terms that are little used in practice. The new taxonomy is organized in six main categories: approach, educational level, foundations of Mathematics Education, research in Mathematics Education, pedagogical notions and mathematical content. This proposal was validated in three phases by researchers, innovators in Mathematics Education, and editors of specialized journals and experts who lead associations and events in the discipline.

Conhecimento Especializado do Professor de Matemática em Dissertações e Teses Brasileiras

Resumo O conhecimento do professor é fundamental para o ensino e para a aprendizagem dos estudantes e possui, em suas características, o fato de ser especializado. Tendo isso em vista, o presente artigo tem por objetivo investigar a utilização do modelo denominado Conhecimento especializado do Professor de Matemática (MTSK) em dissertações e teses brasileiras. Para isso, foi realizada uma busca no Catálogo de Dissertações e Teses da Coordenadoria de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) e na Biblioteca Digital Brasileira de Teses e Dissertações (BDTD) e o corpus foi composto por sete trabalhos. Os resultados permitiram evidenciar a utilização analítica do modelo para identificar e caracterizar conhecimentos de professores e futuros professores relacionados aos diferentes assuntos; a utilização do modelo para a realização de um trabalho de metassíntese; e também para a proposição de um modelo de conhecimento semelhante para a disciplina de Física. Ainda, destaca-se a predominância de sua utilização em contextos de formação continuada e no ensino a distância, e a ausência de trabalhos que investigam o MTSK na modalidade presencial da formação inicial. Com isso, considera-se que o estudo pode provocar questionamentos que orientem o desenvolvimento de novas pesquisas em Educação Matemática, indicando possibilidades do uso do modelo e a necessidade de valorização da profissionalização docente e da defesa de políticas públicas que reafirmem que o conhecimento do professor é especializado. Palavras-chave: Educação Matemática. Formação de Professores. Conhecimentos Profissionais Docentes. MTSK. AbstractTeacher’s knowledge is fundamental for the studentss’ teaching and learning and has in its characteristics the fact of being specialized. With this in view, this article aims to investigate the use of the Mathematics Teacher’s Specialized Knowledge (MTSK) model in Brazilian dissertations and theses. For this purpose, a search was made in the Dissertations and Thesis Catalogue of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD) and the corpus comprised seven papers. The results highlighted the analytical use of the model to identify and characterize the teachers’ and future teachers’ knowledge related to different subjects; the use of the model for performing a meta-synthesis work; and also, for proposing a similar knowledge model for the Physics subject. Additionally, the predominance of its use is highlighted in contexts of continuous education and in distance education, and the absence of works that investigate MTKS in face-to-face modality of initial formation. Therefore, it is considered that the study may bring about questions that may guide the development of new research in Mathematics Education, indicating possibilities of using the model and the need to value teaching professionalization and the defense of public policies reaffirming that the teacher’s knowledge is specialized. Keywords: Mathematics Education. Teacher’s education. Teacher’s professional knowledge. MTSK.

Undergraduates’ conceptions of mathematics teaching and learning: an empirical study

Previous research in mathematics education has explored teachers’ conceptions of mathematics and its teaching and learning, and how their instructional tendencies (e.g., “traditional”, “technological”, “spontaneous” and “investigative”) relate to these conceptions. However, empirical evidence on this topic from large samples of pre-service teachers is limited. This study adapts and validates an instrument originally designed for in-service teachers to analyse the conceptions of mathematics and mathematics teaching and learning. This was done in a sample of undergraduate students in several different degree programmes (primary education, mathematics, and the education itinerary in psychology) in a Spanish university. Existing theory about instructional tendencies and conceptions of mathematics teaching and learning that was developed in the context of in-service teachers is then re-examined in the context of empirical evidence from this sample of individuals (all potential future teachers) without teaching experience. Results show that items from the instrument can be separated into four factors focussed on investigative stances, the role of textbooks, the role of teachers and lesson planning. Individual participants are not characterised by single tendencies; rather, they can be described in terms of several combinations of tendencies, grouped into four clusters. In line with the previous literature on in-service teachers, results suggest that conceptions of mathematics and its teaching and learning are not best captured by rigid, sharply delineated profiles. Rather, individuals configure their own conceptions in terms of combinations of different characteristics of prototypical tendencies.