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Math trails through digital technology: an experience with pre-service teachers

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DOI: 10.37626/GA9783959871440.0

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 6
Matthias Ludwig, Simone Jablonski,
Amélia Caldeira and Ana Moura
(Editors)

Research on Outdoor STEM Education in

the digiTal Age

Conference Proceedings in Mathematics Education

Proceedings of the ROSETA Online Conference
in June 2020

WTM
Verlag für wissenschaftliche Texte und Medien
Münster
Conference Proceedings in Mathematics
Education

Band 6

Matthias Ludwig, Simone Jablonski,

Amélia Caldeira and Ana Moura
(Editors)

Research on Outdoor
STEM Education
in the digiTal Age

PROCEEDINGS OF THE
ROSETA ONLINE CONFERENCE
IN JUNE 2020

WTM
Verlag für wissenschaftliche Texte und Medien
Münster
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 CONTENT
CONTENT ................................................................................................................................................................. 1
RESEARCH ON OUTDOOR STEM EDUCATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE – BACKGROUND AND
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
Matthias Ludwig, Simone Jablonski, Amélia Caldeira and Ana Moura

INVITED PAPERS.................................................................................................................................. 11
CONTEXTUALIZING STEM LEARNING: FRAMEWORKS & STRATEGIES...................................... 13
Helen Crompton

DISCOVERING EVERYDAY MATHEMATICAL SITUATIONS OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM

WITH MATHCITYMAP AND GEOGEBRA 3D ............................................................................................ 23
Zsolt Lavicza, Ben Haas and Yves Kreis

MATHEMATICAL MODELLING IN STEM EDUCATION: A MATH TRAIL USING LABSTARTM 31

Defne Yabas, Hayriye Sinem Boyacı and M. Sencer Corlu

PAPERS .................................................................................................................................................... 39
EXPLORING REAL WORLD ENVIRONMENTS USING POTENTIAL OF GEOGEBRA AR ........... 41
Bernat Ancochea and Martha-Ivón Cárdenas

MATH TRAILS THROUGH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY: AN EXPERIENCE WITH PRE-SERVICE

TEACHERS ............................................................................................................................................................ 47
Ana Barbosa and Isabel Vale

MOBILE-SUPPORTED OUTDOOR LEARNING IN MATH CLASS: DRAFT OF AN EFFICACY

STUDY ABOUT THE MATHCITYMAP APP ................................................................................................ 55
Simon Barlovits and Matthias Ludwig

ANALYSIS OF STUDENT-TEACHER CHAT COMMUNICATION DURING OUTDOOR LEARNING

WITHIN THE MCM DIGITAL CLASSROOM ............................................................................................... 63
Moritz Baumann-Wehner, Iwan Gurjanow, Gregor Milicic and Matthias Ludwig

AUTOMATICALLY AUGMENTED REALITY FOR OUTDOOR MATHEMATICS ............................. 71

Francisco Botana, Zoltán Kovács and Tomas Recio

THE NORWEGIAN STUDY MATH & THE CITY ON MOBILE LEARNING WITH MATH TRAILS
................................................................................................................................................................................... 79
Nils Buchholtz

Research on Outdoor STEM Education in the digiTal Age.

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CONTENT

GET OUT INSIDE: PROGRAMMING TOYS 2.0 TO ESCAPE THE ISLAND ....................................... 87
Elisabete Cunha, Isabel Cabrita and Lina Fonseca

LEARNING MATH OUTDOORS: GRAPH THEORY USING MAPS ....................................................... 95

Aaron Gaio, Laura Branchetti and Roberto Capone

MATHCITYMAP – POPULARIZING MATHEMATICS AROUND THE GLOBE WITH MATHS

TRAILS AND SMARTPHONE ........................................................................................................................ 103
Iwan Gurjanow, Joerg Zender and Matthias Ludwig

DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTENSIVE STUDY PROGRAMME ON OUTDOOR MATHEMATICS

TEACHING WITH DIGITAL TOOLS ............................................................................................................ 111
Simone Jablonski and Matthias Ludwig

A STEM PROJECT IN MOUNTAINS ............................................................................................................ 119

Álvaro A. Martínez Sevilla

MAN IS THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS - MATH TRAILS IN LYON .............................................. 127
Christian Mercat and Patrick Berger

CAM CARPETS AS OUTDOOR STEM EDUCATION ACTIVITY .......................................................... 139

Xenia-Rosemarie Reit

THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF SERIOUS GAMES AND GAMIFICATION IN STEM
LEARNING ........................................................................................................................................................... 147
Pedro A. Santos

MODELING QUADRATIC FUNCTIONS IN THE SCHOOLYARD ........................................................ 155

Melanie Schubert and Matthias Ludwig

TEACHING PRIVACY OUTDOORS – FIRST APPROACHES IN THE FIELD IN CONNECTION

WITH STEM EDUCATION .............................................................................................................................. 163
Sandra Schulz

SOME REMARKS ON ‘GOOD’ TASKS IN MATHEMATICAL OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES ................ 171

Philipp Ullmann

PHOTOGRAPHY: A RESOURCE TO CAPTURE OUTDOOR MATH ................................................... 179

Isabel Vale and Ana Barbosa

EXPERIENCING COMPUTATIONAL THINKING AND THE CONCEPT OF LOOPS IN AN

OUTDOOR CS UNPLUGGED APPROACH .................................................................................................. 187
Sina Wetzel, Gregor Milicic and Matthias Ludwig

Research on Outdoor STEM Education in the digiTal Age.

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 CONTENT

POSTERS .............................................................................................................................................. 195

USING MATH TRAILS AS A TRAVEL GUIDE ........................................................................................... 197
Amélia Caldeira, Ana Júlia Viamonte, Isabel Figueiredo and Helena Brás

MATHCITYMAP GENERIC TASKS OBJECTS IN PORTUGAL AND IN SLOVAKIA ...................... 201

Amélia Caldeira and Sona Ceretkova

“CSI VIENNA” – DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF THE OUT-OF-SCHOOL LAB ELKE ............... 205
Katharina Gross and Sandra Pia Harmer

POPULARISATION OF STEM SUBJECTS BY THE MEANS OF STUDY PROGRAMMES FOR

UPPER-SECONDARY STUDENTS................................................................................................................ 209
Janka Medová and Ľubomíra Valovičová

DEVELOPING AND ASSESSING E-LEARNING SETTINGS BY DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES ...... 213

Christiane S. Reiners, Laurence Schmitz, Stefan Mueller

AUTHORS ............................................................................................................................................................ 217

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 MATH TRAILS THROUGH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY: AN
EXPERIENCE WITH PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS
Ana Barbosa and Isabel Vale
Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo & CIEC/Universidade do Minho, Portugal

Abstract. This paper describes part of an on-going study that aims to understand the potential of
digital technology in outdoors mathematics from the perspective of pre-service teachers. We followed
a qualitative approach and data was collected through observation, two questionnaires and
photographic records. The study involved forty-eight participants that used Math City Map to do a
math trail in the city centre of Viana do Castelo. Results show that they valued the experience,
highlighting the possibility of solving realistic problems, developing cooperative work, critical thinking
and the establishment of mathematical connections. They found the app to be user friendly and
motivating, mentioning its contribution for students’ engagement through active learning, spatial
orientation, autonomy and being more interactive then the paper version.
Key words: Math trails; Problem solving; Mathematical connections; STEM education; Teacher
training.

INTRODUCTION
This paper has a strong support on previous work developed by the authors in the scope of
outdoor mathematics. Several studies conducted with pre-service teachers (e.g. Barbosa &
Vale, 2016; Barbosa & Vale, 2018; Vale, Barbosa & Cabrita, 2019) have shown that the
outdoors can be seen as a privileged educational context, which promotes positive
attitudes and additional motivation for the study of mathematics. In particular, math trails
have great potential for making more visible the connections between mathematics and
everyday life, specifically the environment that surrounds us. These studies focused mainly
on a particular detail of the math trails and that was task design, approaching different
aspects of problem posing, using a mathematical eye to formulate tasks that highlight
connections with daily life. Being part of the Consortium of the Project Math Trails in
School, Curriculum and Educational Environments in Europe (MaSCE3 - part of the Erasmus+
Programme, Key Action 2 – Strategic Partnerships under the number: 2019-1-DE03-
KA201-060118), gave us the opportunity to contact with a different approach to math
trails, adding the possibility to resort to digital technology. The use of Math City Map
(MCM), a project of the working group MATIS I (IDMI, Goethe- Universität Frankfurt) in
cooperation with Stiftung Rechnen, has been reported as having a positive impact in
supporting teachers and students in the process of teaching and learning mathematics
outside the classroom (e.g. Cahyono & Ludwig, 2019; Ludwig & Jablonski, 2019). Having
the conviction that these approaches are extremely relevant in mathematical education and
also in the development of certain skills expected from students in the 21st century, it is our
purpose in this study to understand the potential of digital technology in outdoors
mathematics from the perspective of pre-service teachers.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

One of the core ideas of this paper is that of Math Trail. Hence, is pertinent to begin by
delimiting this concept. We consider a math trail to be a sequence of tasks along a pre-
Barbosa, A. & Vale, I. (2020). Math Trails through Digital Technology: An Experience with Pre-Service Teachers. In M. Ludwig, S.
Jablonski, A. Caldeira, & A. Moura (Eds.), Research on Outdoor STEM Education in the digiTal Age. Proceedings of the ROSETA Online
Conference in June 2020 (pp. 47-54). Münster: WTM. https://doi.org/10.37626/GA9783959871440.0.06
47
Ana Barbosa and Isabel Vale

planned route (with beginning and end), composed of a set of stops in which students solve
mathematical tasks in the environment that surrounds them (Vale, Barbosa & Cabrita,
2019, adapted from Cross, 1997). This is a context that offers rich learning experiences to
the participants, with the advantage of enabling the exploration of mathematical concepts
stated in the curricular guidelines, aspect that can be seen as an advantage in the teachers’
perspective (e.g. Barbosa & Vale, 2018; Vale, Barbosa & Cabrita, 2019). By experiencing a
math trail, the participants can use and apply mathematical knowledge learned in school
and also mobilize informal daily life knowledge. Beyond this possibility there is a wide
range of skills summoned by outdoor education like problem solving, critical thinking,
collaboration, communication, reasoning or establishing connections. For all the stated
reasons, we must consider that it is important to complement the work developed inside
the classroom with experiences in the outdoors, allowing students to discover and
interpret the world beyond those four walls and accepting that education can take place in
different contexts (Kenderov et al., 2009).
In a math trail the participants come into contact with realistic problems that highlight the
usefulness of mathematics, but more than that amplify the possibility of establishing
connections between mathematics and reality. This feature can be a game changer in
inducing positive attitudes towards this discipline (e.g. Bonotto, 2001; Borromeo-Ferri,
2010), relying specially on curiosity, motivation and interest. Beyond solving realistic
problems, in this context we must not forget the influence produced by movement in
students’ attitudes. Thinking and learning 'are not just in the head'; on the contrary, the
body plays a decisive role in the entire intellectual process, from the first to the last years of
our lives. Students who move, either in the classroom or in the outdoors, can learn,
regardless of their activity, more effectively than those in typically sedentary classrooms
(Hannaford, 2005). Alongside cognitive engagement, math trails bring into the table two
other dimensions: physical and social engagement (Hannaford, 2005). The interaction
between these dimensions, facilitated by a math trail, is in line with active learning, known
by committing students to the learning process, hence promoting positive attitudes
towards mathematics (e.g. Vale & Barbosa, 2018).
Nowadays, mobile devices are fully integrated in our daily lives and, consequently, in the
lives of students from very young ages. Teachers should be more aware of this fact and try
to keep up with this trend incorporating resources of this nature into their practices. In
addition to following the development and needs of contemporary society, it is also
important to state that mobile devices are becoming a tool with great potential in both
classrooms and outdoor learning, enhancing students’ learning and allowing the access to
important information in different places and in a more aesthetic manner (Sung, Chang &
Liu, 2016). In general, the influence of technology and the immediate availability of
information inevitably have been recently shaping the ideas and skills to be developed by
students as we move along the 21st century. Moving beyond the mere use of technology to a
perspective of integration with other areas of knowledge, the STEM fields (Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) are being highlighted, both in curricula and in
literature, as an interconnected approach that brings opportunities for students to be
engaged in an active learning perspective, solving realistic problems (NCTM, 2014, 2018).
Refocusing the discussion on mobile devices, it is important to state that the diversity of
learning opportunities offered by this type of technology (e.g. portability, allowing
immediate learning and quick access to information, motivation, facilitating
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 MATH TRAILS THROUGH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY: AN EXPERIENCE WITH PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS

communication between the teacher and the students) can make STEM education more
interesting and enjoyable for students, widening the possibilities for engagement in STEM
subjects, inside but also outside the classroom (e.g. Kärkkäinen & Vincent-Lancrin, 2013).
The extension of the classroom to the outdoors is facilitated by the portability and wireless
functionality of the mobile devices, which presents students with a more authentic and
appropriate context (Cahyono & Ludwig, 2019). Digital technology can help develop a
deeper understanding of mathematics, acting as a mind tool that facilitates inquiry,
decision making, reflection, reasoning, problem solving and collaboration (Fessakis, Karta
& Kozas, 2018).

METHODOLOGY
This is an on-going study that follows an interpretative qualitative methodology (Erickson,
1996). The participants are forty-eight students of an undergraduate teacher training
course in primary education (6-12 years old). These pre-service teachers attend a unit
course on Mathematics Education that acts as the context for the development of the study.
Knowing that, so far, the participants did not have significant experiences working
mathematics outside the classroom, we chose to start with an activity of this nature.
Initially they completed a questionnaire (Questionnaire I) that aimed to access their
perceptions about the teaching and learning of mathematics outside the classroom and also
about the use of technology in that type of context. Then they had the opportunity to do a
math trail using Math City Map (MCM), which was designed by the researchers to be used
in the historical centre of the city of Viana do Castelo, Portugal. The pre-service teachers
worked in groups of 3 and 4. They attributed the responsibility of the use of the
app/smartphone to one of the elements of the group, while the others were in charge of the
measurements, calculations and registers. After doing the trail they completed a second
questionnaire (Questionnaire II), applied with the purposed to analyse eventual changes on
the perceptions of the participants about outdoor mathematics and the use of technology,
specifically the MCM app.
Data was collected in a holistic, descriptive and interpretive manner and included
observations (of the pre-service teachers doing the math trail), questionnaires,
photographs and written productions (solutions of the tasks). The latter were not used in
this specific study. The researchers accompanied the participants during the trail, a fact
that facilitated the accomplishment of the observation, allowing the access to reactions,
comments, questions and attitudes. Since we had forty-eight participants, to maximize the
observation, we chose to divide the group in half and do the math trail with each group
separately. The questionnaires contained mainly open-ended questions, so that the content
analysis focused on finding categories of responses regarding the perceptions evidenced by
the participants, which were crossed with the evidences collected through the observation.

MAIN RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Starting by analysing the results of Questionnaire I, we concluded that 91% of the
participants considered that it is possible to teach and learn mathematics outside the
classroom. The examples presented varied between: tasks related to real life situations;
counting activities; money related tasks; shopping activities; games; competitions; clubs;

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Ana Barbosa and Isabel Vale

field trips; observing architecture/artwork/shapes in the outdoors; finding mathematics in

nature, like patterns/shapes; doing a trail/peddy paper. 87% of the participants revealed
that they have never had a mathematics class outdoors, which in a certain way may explain
the general and vague ideas they had about how to do it. So, this fact indicates that, in order
to incorporate certain methodologies in their future practices, pre-service teachers have to
experience them first. As for technology knowledge, 60% of the participants stated that
they did not know any digital resources to explore mathematics outdoors. The 40% that
admitted knowing resources used for this purpose mentioned digital games, apps and
robots, but none of the examples given allowed the exploration of the surrounding
environment, they only had a playful strand.
Before going to the city centre to do the math trail with MCM, the participants had a brief
session about the use of Math City Map. They came into contact with the main features of
the app, to get acquainted before the activity, and downloaded the trail to the smartphones.
Then the researchers accompanied them to the location of the trail and supervised the
activity, which facilitated the observation of certain aspects. Regarding the use of the app,
we can say that they didn’t show noteworthy difficulties. They found it to be very intuitive
and were extremely autonomous throughout the trail. The gamification feature was an
extra motivating factor: on one hand it caused excitement when the solution was correct;
and implied greater care before the introduction of the answers, which was reflected on
several situations where the participants tried to make sure of the validity of the answer
discussing it within their group. The dynamics of the math trail using MCM naturally
promoted collaborative work, in each group, dividing responsibilities (e.g. smartphone;
measurement; recording data; calculations), or even among different groups cooperating
with the same goal in mind.
Throughout the mathematical trail, participants went through iconic points of the city of
Viana do Castelo, having the opportunity to solve tasks centered on different mathematical
contents (e.g. geometric transformations, patterns, measurements, estimates, areas,
volumes, direct proportionality, visualization, counting). This dynamic allowed them to use
a different lens, exploring the environment through a mathematical eye, but, at the same
time, they could know better the city where they live in, observing more closely the
elements directly worked on. In figures 1 and 2 we can observe different moments of the
trail implementation that illustrate the pre-service teachers’ work.

Figure 1: Pre-service teachers using Math City Map.

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 MATH TRAILS THROUGH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY: AN EXPERIENCE WITH PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS

Figure 2: Pre-service teachers using Math City Map.

Throughout the trail it was possible to witness reactions and comments from the pre-
service teachers that we think are relevant and must be emphasized because they reveal
engagement: the trail gave them the opportunity to get to know better certain aspects of
the city, related to historical and architectural features that they did not know of; many
expressed interest in using the app with their future students; we identified a generalized
satisfaction throughout the activity; they valued the need to move around, opposed to the
sedentary work traditionally developed inside the classroom.
After experiencing the math trail with MCM, the pre-service teachers filled Questionnaire II.
From the analysis of the results we were able to conclude that all the participants
recognized the importance of teaching and learning outside the classroom, especially as a
way to complement the formal educational context. Contrary to the results obtained
through Questionnaire I, they were all convinced, with no exception, that teaching and
learning mathematics outside the classroom is possible, showing that some of these pre-
service teachers changed their opinion about this issue. Those who already though that this
strategy was a possibility, stated it with even more emphasis, admitting that the experience
exceed their expectations. We found several arguments supporting these ideas: follows the
principles of active learning, promoting intellectual, social and physical engagement;
learning is more meaningful for the students because they are directly involved; increases
motivation and enthusiasm; helps understand the usefulness of mathematics, realizing its
application in real life problems; allows to increase the knowledge of the cultural and
natural heritage; facilitates collaborative work and helps develop communication skills, as
well as critical thinking; it can lead to the use of technology.
The majority of these pre-service teachers expressed that they liked to solve all of the tasks
presented along the trail, which is consistent with the observed motivation and
enthusiasm. The tasks pointed as favourites corresponded to those considered to be the
most challenging or the ones that presented information/curiosities/historical aspects
about certain elements of the city that they did no know about. On the other hand, the least
favourites were the ones that involved too many steps during the solution process, which
led them to make some mistakes or to find the task to be too exhausting.
In this questionnaire the participants also commented on the use of MCM and its features.
From the users/students perspective they highlighted as potentialities: the possibility to
use curricular contents in real life situations; being user friendly and easy to understand,
promoting autonomy; facilitating cooperation; helps to get to know the local environment;

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Ana Barbosa and Isabel Vale

develops spatial orientation; being more practical and interactive than the paper version;
the possibility of getting immediate feedback; and the gamification feature. As for the
teachers’ perspective, the participants mentioned as potentialities: the possibility to design
tasks adapted to the local environment and publishing them; addressing different
mathematical contents and promoting interdisciplinary tasks; a way to diversify
educational contexts; allows the teacher to supervise and accompany the work developed
by the groups, due to the autonomy it provides the user. As limitations of the app, these
pre-service teachers only referred to the possible lack of access to Wi-Fi, the fact that
students of younger ages normally don’t have smartphones and, in terms of the tasks, the
limitation of the answer formats to either a value or multiple choice.

CONCLUSION
Based on previous studies developed with pre-service teachers (e.g. Barbosa & Vale, 2016;
Barbosa & Vale, 2018; Vale & Barbosa, 2018; Vale, Barbosa & Cabrita, 2019) we had
already concluded that designing and implementing math trails can promote positive
attitudes towards mathematics and help gain a broader view of the connections we may
establish with the surrounding environment. Math trails make mathematics come alive
engaging the participants cognitively, emotionally and physically, which is why they can be
associated with active learning. This type of experience enhances the “mathematical eye” of
the trail designers as well as of the trail users (e.g. Vale, Barbosa & Cabrita, 2019), bringing
out the usefulness and applications of mathematics.
This study focused only on the perspective of the trail user and not the designer. We
intended to understand the potential of the MCM app in outdoor education from the point
of view of pre-service teachers. Globally they valued the math trail experience as a
meaningful pathway to engage students in realistic problem solving, that presents a
diversity of opportunities for the establishment of connections between mathematics and
other content areas, as well as with real life (e.g. Bonotto, 2001; Borromeo-Ferri, 2010).
Active learning was also pointed out by the participants as a fundamental trait in a math
trail, allowing intellectual, physical and social engagement, whose interaction normally
generates positive attitudes (e.g. Hannaford, 2005; Vale & Barbosa, 2018). Math City Map
was used as the means to present and execute the trail. This was the additional dimension
of this study, trying to perceive its impact. These pre-service teachers valued the use of the
app, finding it user friendly and motivating, especially due to the gamification feature. They
also mentioned as positive its contribution for developing spatial orientation (moving with
the help of the GPS and needing to recognize their position in space), cooperation (through
group work and task division), students’ autonomy and being more practical and
interactive than the paper version. The only limitations recognized by the participants
were related to constraints like the possible absence of Wi-Fi or smartphones (for example
when working with students of younger ages) and also the limited possibilities for answer
formats.
To conclude, when implementing the math trail there was certainly an additional
motivation associated to the digital and interactive features of the MCM app, which
facilitated and made more interesting the exploration of the outdoors from a mathematical
point of view (e.g. Cahyono & Ludwig, 2019). Being pre-service teachers, the participants
other than going through this experience as users, they also had the opportunity to assess
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 MATH TRAILS THROUGH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY: AN EXPERIENCE WITH PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS

the potential of the strategy (math trail) and the resource (MCM app) and envision how
they could, as teachers, implement it in the future. Recognizing the importance of keeping
up with the technological development and society requirements they considered the
possibility of integrating this resource, and the math trail strategy, in their practices.

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