MathReality Erasmus Project

Project Title

MathReality

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 : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

This project was envisaged following the latest PISA results (2015) showing that 22.2% of European students were underperforming in mathematics, a figure that has increased slightly since the last PISA test (2012). This means that more than one in five young people in Europe are not equipped with this basic skill needed for many jobs in our current economy. Einstein said that “the only source of knowledge is experience”. Many studies have shown that we retain about 10% of what we read, but 90% of what we experience. Schooling is the most important educational period when students create learning mechanisms, build knowledge and develop basic skills and methods of acquisition. Many academic documents and global reports, such as the Eurydice Network’s report “Mathematics Education in Europe: Common Challenges and National Policies”, stress the importance of learner motivation and engagement. With these points in mind, we felt it was essential to work on a way to improve the level of European students in mathematics by making their learning experience more engaging.

The different partners in this project were chosen for their complementarity. Three of them are schools based in countries where the rate of low achievement in mathematics is higher than the EU average: Italy, Croatia and Romania, while the other three are organisations recognised for their skills in non-formal mathematics education and in designing innovative tools, as well as for their expertise in running a European project.
Based on their respective expertise and research, the partners chose to use virtual reality (VR) technology. Indeed, it has been referred to as the ‘fourth wave’ of technological innovation and change in the world of computing. Virtual reality, by its very definition, can provide students with experiences and interactions that are not practical or possible in the ‘real world’. This technology helps them feel immersed in an experience, captures their imagination and stimulates their thinking in a way that traditional books, pictures or videos cannot, and facilitates a much higher level of knowledge retention.

The aim was therefore to provide teachers and students with innovative methodology, tools and strategies based on the use of VR technology to successfully deepen students’ knowledge of mathematics through virtual experiences, encouraging the development of creativity and their connection with other disciplines in order to improve their engagement and achievement in mathematics. The secondary objectives were:
To strengthen the provision of non-formal education and services in a creative learning space using innovative technologies.
To provide knowledge and skills, promote problem solving and work on real-life examples.
To share experience and good practice in non-formal mathematics education between project partners from interdisciplinary backgrounds.
-To support the democratisation of VR technology by providing affordable and accessible solutions.
-To provide an innovative and inclusive tool for all learners, including those with specific language difficulties.

To achieve these goals, the project partners have created several open source tools translated into 6 languages:
-1 “VR for Education” booklet presenting how VR can be used in education in its technical, pedagogical and safety aspects.
-1 “VR for Mathematics” pedagogical guide.
-16 Analog hands-on design: informal mathematical exercises.
-1 downloadable VR application with 15 exercises.
-30 Lessons scenarios to use the exercises and the VR application in class.

In addition, in order to promote the project itself but also its objectives, the partners regularly disseminated the results of their work as the project progressed (49,000 people reached). Thanks to the success of this communication, we were able to reach many teachers and educators who, convinced by the objectives of this project and by the feedback from their fellow testers (34 test teachers and 288 students), contacted us to use the tools in their mathematics class. The Open Educational Resources (OER) created through the project are currently on loan to some of the partnership’s schools (outside the partners).

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 186475 Eur

Project Coordinator

Fermat Science & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Srednja skola Ivanec
• SCS LogoPsyCom
• Istituto Statale E.Montale
• Colegiul National “Doamna Stanca”
• C.I.P. CITIZENS IN POWER