Student Teachers Valued the Practices with Materials in the Subjects of Mathematics

Alexander Maz-Machado1, Carmen León-Mantero1, Juan Antonio Renaudo2
(1. Department of Mathematics Education, University of Córdoba, Spain;
2. Department of Basic Sciences National University of San Luis, Argentina)

Abstract: This research study is based on the assessment undertaken by students enrolled at the Faculty of Primary School Education, who valued the usage of didactic materials in teaching mathematics. The students performed twelve practices during an academic year and at the end of the course a Likert scale questionnaire was applied rating two of the dimensions involved in the practices: the first one is the usefulness and teaching interest of practices and the second one is collaborative work. The results reveal that students value them as important in their training process and consider them as a valuable aspect for understanding the concepts. Furthermore, collaborative work during the mathematical practices with teaching materials is valued as important and useful because it emphasizes basic cognitive aspects for the transmission of information or knowledge.

Key words: mathematics, university education, initial teacher education, practical mathematics lessons