Students in the 5th year of elementary school from two municipal schools in Cotia (SP) immersed themselves in the universe of open, creative and visual mathematics.
The impressive result of this experiment was a gain of 1.3 years of schooling in math concepts in just 10 days.
They participated in the Vacation Course of the Mathematical Mentalities Program, promoted by Instituto Sidarta, in partnership with Itaú Social, in January 2020. The work was led by Jack Dieckmann, director of the Youcubed Research Center at Stanford University, at U.S (USA).
In all, 70 students were tested before and after the Vacation Course. The 1.3 year evolution achieved by the students corresponds to the American standard, calculated from the performance in the MARS assessment (Mathematical Assessment Resource Service). It is the same test used by Stanford on Vacation Courses held in the USA.
Students also increased their love of mathematics and reduced their anxiety about the subject. Almost all participants (96%) understood that making mistakes is part of the learning process (one of the main focuses of the program).
These data were obtained from a questionnaire with students, on a Likert scale, to assess the relationship with mathematics and the concepts of Mathematical Mentalities. Another point that caught our attention was that, on average, girls had an advance 3.5 times greater than that of boys.
The overall improvement in learning was not related to previous academic performance or the educational level of those responsible, indicators that usually have an impact.
The Vacation Course methodology was put into practice for the first time in 2015, in California, for 18 days, with 6th and 7th grade students. There, in this longer period, there was an evolution equivalent to 2.7 years of regular teaching in mathematics.
In 2019, the model was expanded to 14 locations in the US and Scotland, and the Brazilian assessment followed the same method, which makes comparison possible.
Adapted to the context of Brazil, the course lasted 10 days, with students starting the 5th year of elementary school. The performance of São Paulo students in a rigorous test of mathematical comprehension was considered expressive by the researchers.
“As a validation study, we are building evidence for Mathematical Mindsets outside of the original US context. The Sidarta team implemented the program in a Brazilian public school, showing that with the right choice of practices for education and curriculum, students of all backgrounds can enjoy and feel capable in math,” said Jack Dieckmann.
Given the promising results, Itaú Social is studying taking the experience to other places in Brazil, transforming it into a social technology for public networks.
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“Historically, learning mathematics is a challenge in the Brazilian context, especially if we consider students most affected by the consequences of social inequalities, with an emphasis on the issue of gender. These results mean that more students can benefit, not just the group that already performs well, aspect fundamental for us to make the methodology available to partner cities and states”, says Juliana Yade, education specialist at the Itaú Social.
The Vacation Course was the first contact of students from municipal schools in Cotia (SP) with Mentalidades Mathematics.
The teaching approach was created by Professor Jo Boaler of Stanford University. In 2016, Instituto Sidarta started to apply it in Brazil, at Colégio Sidarta and at Escola Estadual Henrique Dumont Villares, with excellent results.
The institute also trains teachers in the approach. For this edition of the Vacation Course, 25 teachers were trained over 3 months.
“The research has provided us with consistent evidence that Brazilian children are capable of learning math at high levels when challenged by open, creative and visual teaching. By developing a positive relationship with math, they allowed themselves to take more risks and learned more. This Vacation Course was a partnership with the Municipal Department of Education of Cotia, and we are talking to other municipalities interested in offering the program to their students,” said Ya Jen Chang, president of the Institute Siddhartha.
About the Mathematical Minds Program
Powered by Siddhartha Institute, in partnership with the Itaú Social, proposes a visual, open and creative mathematics, based on studies of neuroscience and work in collaborative groups.
Its main lines of action are: research, teacher training and application of the Mathematical Mentalities approach to students in public schools.
About the Siddhartha Institute
Created in 1998, it is a non-profit organization whose objective is to contribute to changing public educational policies aimed at promoting education for equity.
About Itaú Social
It develops, implements and shares social technologies to contribute to the improvement of Brazilian public education. Its work is based on two pillars: the training of education professionals and the strengthening of civil society.
See too: 12 Mathematics Lesson Plans – Kindergarten and Elementary School
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