Apoio on-line no ensino da matemática

Abstract

The aim of this study was to conceive, implement and evaluate an on-line support system, through the usage of various technological tools, so that students of mathematics can clarify their doubts, in an interactive and flexible way in time and space. In a moment where there is a strong investment in Information Technologies (IT) in the Educational System, those tools can be a precious aid to support the students on resolving the difficulties of learning mathematics. In 1994, the “National Council of Teachers of Mathematics” defined norms for mathematics teaching that refer “it is the role of the teacher to instil interest and help students to learn how to use the computer and other related technologies as working tools for communication in mathematics”. Campos (1994) also refers that “students feel curious about computers and so teachers should leverage that situation creating appropriate environments by introducing activities and experiences to motivate students”. Hence, teachers of mathematics started using, even if gradually, computers and different types of software developed for this subject. Using a research-action methology, a new system was conceived, implemented and evaluated. The system provides the students with a new communication channel to clarify their doubts in mathematics facilitating a more effective dialogue with the teacher and sharing with other colleagues. It involved 97 students, 69 from secondary education and 28 from basic education, to study dimensions and factors that make useful, or inhibit, the usage of technologies as a complement to classroom and to the support on the study of mathematics. The research had the duration of about six months and, although circumscribed to one practical concrete case, it allows us to conclude the next pros and cons of this approach. On one hand, the limiting factors to adhesion were the good classifications of the students in the subject of mathematics, the symbolic language that it is associated with, the resort to explanations outside school and the fact that the teachers feel little comfortable with technologies. On the other hand, the main causes for the utilization of the new system were the impossibility to go to school associated with motivation and the strong interest for using technologies. Since this was an experimental and not a generalizable study, the main results still seem to indicate that the barriers that circumscribe students to their traditional comfort environment in teaching and learning overtake the new experiences mediated by technology. Our research emphasises the importance of the teachers’ role as a catalyst for the adhesion to the new support medium. Keywords: Mediated support to Mathematics teaching, on-line learning environment.

Date of Award	May 2012
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	António Andrade (Supervisor)