The main objective of our project is to develop a new visual educational system for mathematics: the PUSE (Poly-Universe in School Education) methodology. The project is based on the Poly-Universe game, which is a geometric skill-developing game. The novelty value of Poly-Universe lies in the scale-shifting symmetry inherent to its geometric forms and a color combination system, which can be used universally and impact the educational system, particularly in the education of geometry and combinatorics. The complexity emerging out of its simplicity makes it more than a game, more than art, more than mathematics: these elements come all together – creating synergy in education. For centuries, the European way of teaching geometry followed the Euclidian path, and was limited to a row of theorems to be validated by the use of lengths and angles turned into numbers with algebraic instruments. It tamed visualization in children’s minds and maked it nearly impossible to understand and receive non-Euclidian geometry, which is indispensable in modern sciences. Teachers of Mathematics working in higher education still witness the damage this unilateral approach has caused. We can change this. The demand for a new system arises from experience with previous school workshops, international conferences and the latest results of the research project “Complex Math. Teaching in the 21st Century” at MTA-ELTE in Hungary. In the course of activities with children of all ages and in more than ten countries, the inventor has detected a clear need for an educational approach based on Poly-Universe. Our main purpose is therefore, with the involvement of different international partners, to develop an educational methodology resulting in: • teaching materials (teacher’s book and student workbook) • an internet interface, online materials • training of students and teachers in partner schools • dissemination of intellectual products in the EU Our project is based on collaboration among six institutions in four countries. The main developers of the project are Poly-Universe Ltd., the project coordinator is the project owner, who also provides project management; GamefulLiving carries out tests, selects the appropriate measurement devices and assesses, and compiles the results from the initial stage of the project up to its closure. We selected 4 partner schools from 4 countries with different educational systems. Our training program deals with traditional education (mathematics) but it also pays special attention to pedagogy and talent development. The use of ICT-based methods is also a meaningful part of the program. Our partners are a Hungarian school of mathematics, a Central European minority school, and one Western as well as a Northern European school (each being a local coordinator). All provide testing, measurement, piloting and teaching. We will hold four Transnational Meetings. During these, partners will discuss and decide about the project tasks, monitor project implementation, develop intellectual products, and present the results achieved. The coordinating team will hold one-day PUSE Conferences and workshops for teachers in every countries. Each partner school will organize one Teacher/Student Training course for teachers and students of local schools. The priority of the project will be the creation of intellectual products and Multiplier Events in the partner countries. The PUSE project will create an educational methodology for skill-development. The results will be published in a methodology book and related workbooks. We will offer the license of the methodology book free of charge to the state and private school systems of EU countries. The other outcome of the project will be a multi-lingual interactive online interface accessible to everyone for free. The long term benefit of PUSE will be the ability to take the material of the multiplier events, the presentations and the workshops into any kind of educational establishment. The participating schools will afterward, at their own initiative, disseminate the project results in their own countries. The information for partner schools and teachers will form a coherent methodological training package. The PUSE results published on websites of the project and partner schools will be open to access. We will maintain the PUSE online platform and our website for a long-term use. We wish to create a widely adaptable and universal methodology, a context-independent aid for teaching to benefit different educational systems of the EU. We believe that this methodology can facilitate the learning process and develop creativity, cognitive abilities, student motivation and attitude, as well it should aptly provide equal opportunities for disadvantaged students. It can also improve the quality of teachers’ work. We wish to utilize Poly-Universe for this purpose in order to explore its potential within the framework of Erasmus+ and make it freely available to the public.
Erasmus+ PUSE (Poly-Universe in School Education) project www.poly-universe.com The Poly-Universe geometric skill development tool was invented by visual artist SAXON. The novelty of the game lies in the scale shift symmetry of the basic shapes, and in the colour combination system attached to it. Although the tool consists of truly simple elements and attributes (basic shapes, basic colours, proportions), it is at the same time also extremely complex, because by shifting proportions and changing colour combinations and their relationships, the number of possible solutions becomes virtually endless. That is why the Poly-Universe is more than play, more than art, more than maths, it includes all: synergy in education… The Erasmus+ PUSE project was the main step taken to map how Poly-Universe's artistic-scientific approach could enter the gates of mathematics education. Its necessity was proven by workshops held in dozens of countries, by the participation in math-art conferences and also by the research project of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2015. The goal of the project was to develop a geometric-combinatorial educational method, primarily for mathematics education, based on a visual system. The outcome of the project is an educational methodology book and students' worksheets (EN, HU). PUSE METHODOLOGY Visual Experience Based Mathematics Education 2019 ISBN 978-615-81267-0-0 The original goal of the size of the methodology book was between 100-200 pages. Finally the printed PUSE teacher book & PUSE exercise book was put together to make the PUSE Methodology Book on 600 coloured pages with 500 graphic illustrations. The student worksheets target three different age groups: primary school early years, upper years, and high school students. The methodological part is divided into five chapters. Each chapter is made up of methodology sheets meant for teachers, paired with student worksheets: 1 Geometry & Measurement 2 Combinatorics & Probability 3 Sets & Logic 4 Graphs & Algorithms 5 Complex The final output of our educational methodology is an interactive PUSE online system, where we can use the advantages of ICT based teaching, and how we can maintain it for a long time, however this is an interactive platform, with an expandable online source of exercises. The main goal was to develop an PUSE interactive surface for teachers, who use the methodology in their classes. Therefore to use the program with internet we published the online PUSE Teacher’s book and Exercise tasks (EN-HU). In the future, when the methodology book is translated into several languages in EU education systems we would like to constantly expand the editions... The PUSE Methodology was created by a group consisting of teachers, students, artists, an inventor, psychologists, a sociologist and external experts. The four partner school organizations (Finnish, Hungarian, Slovak, Spanish) come from different regions of Europe and operate in different educational systems. Thanks to the international partnership, we learned how students and teachers approach the passages between arts and maths, problem solving based on Poly-Universe's visual system in a Scandinavian-type educational system; in a Western-European environment based on the PISA method; in a strongly mathematically centred Central-European educational system and in the specific circumstances of minority schools. All participating schools gave valuable contributions to the development of the methodology and the exercises. Going beyond educational aspects, the need arose to map connections between the tool and psychology, so we included a game research expert in the project as well. The PUSE methodology facilitates the learning process and develops creativity, cognitive abilities, student motivation and attitude and it also provides equal opportunities for disadvantaged students. It can also improve the quality of teachers’ work. The PUSE Methodology doesn't claim completeness, i.e. it is not a closed collection of exercises. This couldn't have been its purpose. The Poly-Universe in fact is not simply a tangible tool or a closed-system puzzle, but an open math-art system which models the Universe, allowing a glimpse into its internal laws. The Poly-Universe, rooted in a special artistic vision, does not only inspire mathematics, but also triggers interdisciplinarity. The PUSE Methodology opens up the way for teachers and students, artists and scientists. We can all enter into Poly-Universe's spacious world, explore its complex realm and further discover its laws and regulations. While Poly-Universe offers scale shift, the methodology based on the tool offers a change of attitude for today's educational system – not in order to achieve small, medium or large bits of knowledge, but endless knowledge... (The project coordinator, Poly-Universe Ltd offers the license of the PUSE Methodology free of charge to the state and private school systems of EU countries)