One of the key teaching competences for the 21st century is mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology. The three schools involved have found it necessary to review traditional teaching methods in order to introduce new innovative ways of teaching mathematics. We want to introduce innovative programs for schools and take maths outside the classroom, and make links with other disciplines like computer studies, science, biology or applied statistics. One of the main reasons that motivated us to design this project was the high number of students in our schools, who consider mathematics to be boring, difficult to learn and not very useful in everyday life nowadays. Through our common project we intend to increase students' awareness and interest in learning mathematics, improve mathematical skills such as abstraction, generalization and algorithmic thinking. Specific objectives: OE1. Select 9 teachers (three from each county) to develop innovative materials. OE2. Select 18 students (6 from each country) to try out these innovative materials. OE3. Develop mathematical competences (abstraction, generalization and algorithmic thinking) to improve students’ future learning and share our results with other European schools using educational social networks (eTwinning, twitter, etc.). OE4. Stimulate curiosity and creativity in students, connect mathematics with other disciplines and real life through Inquiry-Based Learning and Cooperative Learning. OE5. Improve competence in foreign languages for all students involved in the project. OE6. Use gamification in the classroom (Kahoot and Socrative, among others) to get students to learn mathematical concepts through games. OE7. Make use of Flipped Classroom methodology to encourage students to participate in their own learning. Our project aims to increase motivation for mathematics using the methodology of Inquiry-Based Learning. Thus, we will connect mathematics with real life, recognizing the importance of it in our lives and for our development. In addition, the active methodologies indicated above will be used: Gamification, Flipped Classroom and Cooperative Learning. The "Innovation, ICT and Mathematics" project is aimed at students from three European countries with an approximate age of 15 (3rd year of ESO (compulsory secondary education). Three mobilities of students and teachers have been planned (Spain, Romania and the Czech Republic). The total number of participants that will attend the mobilities will be 18 students and nine teachers. The project promotes an innovative approach that will lead to an increase in the interest and motivation of students in learning mathematics. The activities are designed to encourage learning through practice and through discovery, improve thinking skills and enhance creativity, imagination, algorithmic thinking, abstraction, generalization, English and ICT skills in students. All products for the project will be created before, during and after the mobilities. During the mobilities, as well as attending the workshops, the partners will have the opportunity to attend other classes, where they will observe and exchange good classroom practice and become more familiar with the different European educational systems. The following tangible results will be produced during the project: project app and logo, Facebook page, calendar, project report and brochure, GeoGebra practices for learning Geometry, Scratch practices and App Inventor for learning algebra and algorithms, Wiris practice to learn arithmetic, Kahoot, Socrative and Quizziz questionnaires to gamify the maths classroom while evaluating what has been learned, creation of student videos in which mathematical relations with other disciplines are explained, use of Flipped Classroom methodology and individual journals written about the mobility experiences. The expected intangible results are: an increase in mathematical competence, an improvement in the students’ academic results in mathematics, the stimulation of student creativity learning of mathematics, an increase in student motivation and the introduction of new learning methodology in the educational process such as Inquiry-Based Learning, Cooperative Learning, Gamification or Flipped Classroom.
One of the key competencies of the 21st century is mathematical competence. The 3 partner institutes involved in the project consider it necessary to review teaching methods, open the doors to educational innovation and take mathematics out of the classroom, relating it to other applied disciplines such as computer science, biology, nature, and engineering. One of the fundamental points that led the partners to design this project was the high percentage of students in the associated institutes with low grades in subjects related to mathematics and who consider mathematics to be boring, difficult to learn and not very useful in today's society. Through our project and with the specific knowledge of each participant School, we intended to increase the motivation and interest of students in learning mathematics, such that they would improve basic mathematical skills such as: abstraction, generalization and algorithmic thinking. The specific objectives worked during the project were: OE1. Select teachers and students from the three partner countries to jointly design and develop innovative materials using ICT. Enhancing the creativity and imagination of the students and putting the materials into practice during the mobilities to use them in our Centres and share them with other European Centres. OE2. Develop mathematical skills (abstraction, generalization, and algorithmic thinking) for the future in students and share our experience with other European Centres by creating a project website and through educational social networks (eTwinning, twitter, Instagram, etc.). OE3. Motivate students by stimulating their curiosity and creativity, connecting mathematics with other disciplines and real life through Research-Based Learning, Projects and/or Problems, and Cooperative Learning. OE4. Use new open teaching methodologies in the classroom such as gamification (computer games, Kahoots, mathematical quizzes), the Flipped Classroom methodology and Peer teaching to ensure that students learn mathematical concepts in a playful environment and participate in their own learning. OE5. Improve the competence in linguistic communication in English of the participating students by developing all the activities of the project in this language. OE6. Carry out cultural activities in each of the cities of the partner countries, make presentations on the culture of each of the member countries of the project like historical facts, figures in the scientific field or the educational system of each country. Our project increased the motivation for mathematics and its study in students using new active methodologies such as Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) and the use of ICT. For this, mathematics was related to real life, recognizing the importance of mathematics in our lives and for our development. In addition, the new active methodologies indicated above were used. The "Innovation, ICT and Mathematics" project was carried out by secondary school and vocational training students from 3 European countries aged between 15 and 18 years. Three mobilities were carried out (Spain, Romania, and the Czech Republic). The total number of participants who attended the mobilities was 37 students and 9 teachers. Throughout the project, innovative educational activities were carried out to increase students' interest and motivation in learning mathematics. The designed activities fostered learning by doing and by discovery, improved thinking skills and enhanced students' creativity, imagination, algorithmic thinking, abstraction, generalization, English and ICT skills. All project products were created by teachers and students in locally formed math clubs. During the mobilities, the partners, in addition to carrying out the workshops to learn about and practice the activities created for the objectives, had the opportunity to attend other classes, where they observed and exchanged good practices and learned more about the different European educational systems. Among others, the following results have been produced during the project: On the part of Spain: the organization, the website, the logo, and the Instagram page of the project. Guides and tutorials for workshops and innovative activities using gamification in the classroom and problem-based learning, the application of ICT in the teaching of mathematics and cultural presentations about Spain. On the part of Romania: workshop guides for STEM activities using research-based and project-based methodologies. Tutorials for the use of ICT in the science and mathematics classroom and cultural presentations about Romania. On the part of the Czech Republic: workshops on STEM activities in museums and at the school using the Excel application, peer and cooperative learning and teaching methodologies such as the Flipped Classroom methodology and cultural presentations on the Czech Republic.