Mathwise: Rethinking Math Education through Well-being and Human-centred Learning in Higher Education

Our main objective with this project is to provide a comprehensive curricula for higher education institutions working with mathematics teacher training, that integrates sound mathematical knowledge with a person-centred focus, addressing both emotions and cognition, and offers concrete activities teachers can implement. We aim to provide results that are adaptable to different countries’ educational systems, and so have a potential for wide-spread use. We also want to create materials that supports teachers in understanding the underlying value of SEL in education, and make it part of their initial training.

As for concrete results, we want to create four results in four work packages:
1) Math Strategies Pedagogical Framework and MOOC: building on the pedagogical knowledge and the mathematical excellence of our university partners, we want to create a strong foundation for our products. The pedagogical framework will comprise our approach to pedagogy, and emerging from this framework the MOOC will be an adaptable tool to teacher training in higher education, showcasing our proposed curricula for integrated teaching of maths and SEL. It will also serve as a way to promote digital readiness in teacher education.

2) Teachers’ Treasure Chest: We want to develop a set of tools that practicing teachers can use in their work (and in-training students can learn as relevant tools), that provides practical opportunities for implementing our approach. The tools will follow an ECA-approach (emotion-cognition-action) - a section for addressing emotions in maths-learning (such as anxiety, inhibition, a feeling of being inadequate, but also excitement and awe), a section about cognition (in what way to teach math that reflects on students’ real-life experiences and interests), and a section on activities (to involve not only the mind but also real experiences, thinking of students as whole beings).

3) Mathwise Teacher Training: a curriculum for a 5-days in-person training course, that provides an opportunity for teachers for experiential learning, giving space for understanding, discussions, experimentation and excitement. The training curriculum will build on the framework, will use the tools, and will complement them with a overarching pedagogical introduction of non-formal methods.

4) Mathwise Impact Report: Finally, we want to conduct extensive evaluation of our results and activities, the results of which will be compiled in an Impact report. This report will also provide suggestions on integrating our products in other institutions (not currently project partners), as to maximize the potential impact.

All our results focus on making math more inclusive, more attainable for students, and so encouraging more to follow a carrier path in STEM fields, by repelling barriers. These tools will support teachers in their practice, as learning this approach already in their initial studies will be deeply embedded in their later practice.

Partners: 
Rogers Foundation
University of Jyväskylä
Johannes Kepler University
Pannon University