Don’t be afraid of math Erasmus Project

Project Title

Don’t be afraid of math

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development); Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

In today’s technology-rich society people with unsatisfactory math skills are often faced with severe restrictions on the job market. We also see that students and teachers have difficulty applying abstract mathematics concepts to everyday life. The project “Don’t be afraid of math” should give all participants a wide range of tools, methods and strategies to improve their math skills, be assertive and innovative, and become more independent in their later careers. In this project not only the mathematical skills, which are often very important and necessary for the career choice, but also the international cooperation between teachers from different nations and the students of different nationalities and origins were promoted. Understanding differences and tolerance towards other people are important key skills.
The main objectives of the project were: acquisition of key skills and competences, professional development of teaching staff, emphasis on the importance of international cooperation and promotion of tolerance and social inclusion.
The main group of the project consisted of about 300 students aged 12 to 15 years (59 of them with educational, health, economic or refugee problems) and about 30 teachers (math, English, German, physics, art, geography, ICT and Natural Sciences) from 6 countries with different educational systems who not only improved their skills in math, language, ICT, negotiation and public speaking, but also learned about different ways of applying mathematics to different fields of life. Students took part in workshops divided into 6 topics (from Pytagoras to Gauss; math and geography; it’s beautiful; I’m going to be an entrepreneur; let’s have fun; from binary to coding). Some of them have participated in learning and training activities, always including at least one student with fewer opportunities from each partner school.
The teachers prepared and carried out workshops for students and formed local project teams. Both students and teachers have used eTwinning to present their work, to communicate with their classmates and teachers from other schools, to disseminate and evaluate project activities.
There were 6 learning, teaching and training activities during the project: 4 activities for students (math is useful; fun math navigation, business simulation, math festival) and 2 for teachers (math doesn’t have to be difficult and teaching IT programs in math).
Activities for teachers were used to improve teacher education and share best practices. The exchange of international best practices and knowledge between partner schools was an essential part of this strategic partnership. In addition, new participants with different cultural backgrounds were prepared by other participants for life in a multicultural, tolerant European community. A wide range of methods was used during the project: collaborative learning, learning by doing, peer teaching, learning through games, teamwork, implementation of the CLIL methodology, ICT tools in teaching and learning, social inclusion and integration, creating interactive math -Quizzes and games for future teaching and learning. It did help to create a more modern and dynamic professional environment in schools.
Even after the end of the project, the project is kept open on the eTwinning platform and joint tasks and activities are carried out, which enable the transnational, interdisciplinary and intersectional benefits of the cooperation between the partner institutions in the long term.
The project enabled participants to develop critical thinking skills, solve problems, improve their accounting skills, teamwork, ICT and English skills, and find joy in collaborative learning.
In this way, the participants were able to learn from each other to respect each other in their differences and acquire important interpersonal skills in order to promote the school’s openness to Europe and the world.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 159421,8 Eur

Project Coordinator

Schule an der Deilich & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Spoleczna Szkola Podstawowa
• Agrupamento de Escolas D. Luís de Ataíde
• Nyströmska Skolan
• Zakladna skola
• OS Tin Ujevic Osijek