Breakout Room #1

Olga Fellus (Brock University); Viktor Freiman (Universite de Moncton); Olivia Lurette (Université de Moncton);

Spatial reasoning in authentic contexts of an engineering challenge: Tapping into children's intuitive understanding of relationships between objects and self

We report results of a study featuring kindergarten students’ solving an engineering challenge of building a shelter for a stuffed animal. Our analysis focuses on spatial reasoning (SR) that emerged from the children’s intuitive exploration of space and shapes. Two groups of 20 students and two teachers participated in the study that was conducted in a primary school’s (K-5) STEM innovation lab. Our findings suggest that in engineering structures, children are engaged in iterative cycles of a design process: Planning --> Realization --> Testing & Adjusting through a variety of SR skills including estimating, measuring, visualizing, representing, organizing, and synchronizing.

Breakout Room #2

Sheree Rodney (Ontario Tech University)

Curiosity and The Circle: An Embodied Experience

This research is part of a broader study that focuses on the relationship between digital technology and the affect in mathematics education. It is motivated by the understanding that learning is not solely dependent on the experience of learners, but rather on the relationships that are made possible when learners interact with material tools such as digital technologies. In this research, I introduce a theoretical framework, which I called Embodied Curiosity, and show how grade-nine learners’ mathematical meanings shifted when they interact with circle geometry and Sketchpad.

Breakout Room #3

Chantal Buteau (Brock University); Joyce Mgombelo (Brock University)

Features of an effective teaching, in a project-based learning approach, of using programming for mathematics investigation

We present an exploratory study (Broley, Buteau et al., in press), discussed at INDRUM 2022, in which we examine the teaching of programming for mathematics investigation in an undergraduate project-based learning environment. Using instrumental orchestration as our theoretical framework, we explore the orchestration features that students consider to be the most effective for supporting their learning. A qualitative analysis of 43 students’ questionnaire responses led to the identification of such features, regrouped in 5 main themes (help and support, organization of the course, instructor interventions, instructor characteristics, and class atmosphere). Results suggest that students recognize the need for their instrumental geneses to be steered and highlight the importance of individualized interventions and a supportive learning environment.