SmartMaths Erasmus Project

Project Title

SmartMaths

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 Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

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

Project Summary

Ours school´s essential need when we contemplated this project was to improve teaching quality. For that reason we thought that it was very important to innovate in methodology. Teaching quality is synonymous of teaching process quality and so, we considered essential the following aspects: cooperative work in the classrooms, key competences development, improvement in the competences evaluation, introducing interdisciplinary projects and all the levels , and integrating in a practical way the use of technologies.
From the context we have just introduced, we established the main objective: to apply gamification in the teaching context using ludic activities to learn and applying the rules of the game in the classroom. The objective has been to involve our students offering them new teaching methodologies, fostering effort, determination and collaboration. Learning Mathematics in an active and creative way makes easier the students incorporation to the work world, helping them in fields such as problems resolution, taking decisions and fostering creativity.
Having our objectives in mind we selected our partners for this project, five schools from four different countries: Shotton Hall (England), specialized Arts school, Tallina Kesklina Vene Gümnaasium (Estonia) school with great experience in European projects and with great academic results, Discovery School( England)technical school, specialized in STEM subjects, Enrico Fermi(Italy), scientific secondary school which promotes Maths, Physics and Natural Sciences acquisition, Paidos(Spain) this project´s coordinator. All of them share the same educational concerns.

The thematic areas worked during the project have been: “Numbers, ratio and proportion”, “Measure and Geometry”, “Algebra, Graphics and Functions” and “Statistics and Probability”. In each of these areas the eTwinning project has been divided, sharing all the activities and results.
The product has been the SMARTMATHS game which has allowed us to unify all the activities carried out during the project. It has been developed in digital version for the computer, mobile application, video game and board game. The type of game selection and the design of the four worlds, each one referred to a Mathematical field, has been the essential activity for the project´s development. The logo´s contest to select the main character, the short story competition (in which students have explained our character´s adventures in the different worlds), the theatre adaptation, the music composing for the game and the final performance, the games creation and questions, have become trials that our character has had to overcome. In each thematic unit a comparison of curriculums of different countries involved has been done to finish with the round table of the closing ceremony. All that activities and products have been elaborated by the partners in an equitable and organized way during the different periods.

All these activities have had the purpose of promoting the intereuropean dialogue and the knowledge of other languages, the introduction of cooperative elements in the learning process between nations and respect to diversity. All these have been carried out with the purpose of the creation of European learning networks which will provide expectations and opportunities to all participants.
They have not only learnt Mathematics, but they have improved their creativity, autonomy, confidence, responsibility, solidarity, team spirit and leadership. In that sense, the gamification is a perfect tool of collaboration which has let us get closer to Mathematics and develop these abilities.
The project´s development, resources and results have been published in eTwinning, in the partner´s web and in the project´s web in order to provide information to everybody. The activities and final products will be accessible at any time , so that any school can use the project results.
Our prediction is to produce different versions of the game creating the “SmartMaths junior” for primary students and other versions for different subjects. We will also translate it to different languages.

From this academic year on, we want to develop the SmartMaths trial as a school event with all the partners and we want to open it to other schools.
The project´s impact has surpassed all our expectations and for that reason it will be sustainable over time.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 84611 Eur

Project Coordinator

Paidos & Country: ES

Project Partners

• ISTITUTO DI ISTRUZIONE SUPERIORE”ENRICO FERMI”
• Discovery School
• academy at shotton hall
• Tallinna Kesklinna Vene Gümnaasium