Dra. Seckel-Santis, Maria

Results of the studies on the way language and body coordinate in communication (through language and gesture) have significant implications for language, education, and cognitive studies. However, there is a lack of convenient research in this area analyzing perceptual changes within individuals. To fill this gap, we investigated the embodied realizations of literal sentences representing perceptual changes and metaphorical sentences describing the phenomena in terms of perceptual changes. We classified sentences that referred to a visual, auditory, haptic, gustatory, or olfactory change. Participants listened to four narratives that contained five literal sentences describing a real perceptual change and five metaphorical sentences that described a phenomenon in terms of a perceptual change. We analyzed the recorded videos of the participants. The total number of literal sentences that described a real perceptual change was obtained for each modality (visual, auditory, haptic, gustatory, olfactory) separately. Also, the total number of gestures used with each category of these literal statements was obtained. Only iconic and non-iconic gestures that described such perceptual changes as the movement of an object in the space were counted. The results revealed that gestures accompanied at least 53% of literal and 56% of metaphorical sentences. These results suggest that literal and metaphorical perceptual change sentences could be understood as movements at a conceptual level. The similarity between embodied realizations of literal and metaphorical sentences supports one of the main assumptions of the strong version of embodied cognition.

Antecedentes: Como importante es vincular las disciplinas a contextos reales, es necesario proponer estrategias de enseñanza-aprendizaje basadas en situaciones diversas, dentro o fuera del campo matemático. Este estudio considera estrategias y concepciones de enseñanza en matemáticas contextuales utilizadas por profesores de educación básica de la Región del Maule, Chile. Objetivos: Establecer creencias de profesores de educación básica en esta Región, sobre el uso de contextos en procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje de las matemáticas. Diseño: De carácter mixto, considerando recolección de datos cuantitativos y cualitativos simultáneamente. El diseño investigativo, de tipo descriptivo, utiliza preguntas cerradas y abiertas para recolectar los datos. Las preguntas cerradas, presentadas en una escala de Likert de 1 a 5, explorando cinco dimensiones relativas al tema matemática en contexto fueron: 1) procesos, 2) habilidades y 3) contextualización matemática, 4) curriculum nacional y 5) condiciones favorables/desfavorables para trabajar en contexto. Contexto y Participantes: 99 docentes de educación primaria de la respectiva Región, que guían prácticas pedagógicas en matemáticas, de profesores de primaria en formación. Recopilación y análisis de datos: Los datos cualitativos se agruparon en categorías de tipo deductivo considerando la literatura y las respuestas de los participantes. Resultados: Se destaca la valoración docente sobre las dimensiones cuantitativas y aspectos utilizados para construir conocimiento matemático, pero también las actividades tipo ejercicios, que relacionan mayoritariamente con conceptos matemáticos sobre números y operaciones. Conclusiones: La práctica matemática en contextos es bien valorada por los profesores, pero aun no es asumida como estrategia adecuada para evaluar logros de aprendizaje.

Learning about the conceptions used by primary school teachers towards the use of robotics in class is essential as the first step towards its application in the classroom. Therefore, with the purpose of describing the understanding applied when teaching and learning mathematics use educational robots, research was conducted by means of mixed methods using a descriptive design by survey. Such research consisted of closed questions (Likert-type scale from 1 to 5) and open questions, given to 83 primary school teachers who currently teach students in the first years of school (First to Fourth grade) in two Chilean districts. The results showed that in general, there is a positive predisposition towards the addition of robots in the learning and teaching of mathematic processes during the first years of school, even though teachers claim there is a struggle to incorporate robots in their lessons due to the high number of students and the reduced space in their classrooms.

The advance of society and technological development have led governments to transform their public policies in various areas, with a particular focus on the education system. In this context, many countries have focused their efforts on raising educational quality standards, especially in the development of digital competencies. This has generated the need to modify school curricula, incorporating Computational Thinking (CT) in areas such as mathematics. Several researches highlight the importance of providing tools to teachers to design meaningful pedagogical strategies that integrate mathematical thinking with CP, implementing innovative teaching practices that favor the development of skills in students. In line with these demands, the present research aims to design an instrument for the observation of mathematics classes that incorporate the PC through the programming of robots, in order to guide teaching reflection. The study is situated within an interpretive paradigm, with a mixed approach, and validates the content from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective. In conclusion, the instrument designed has proven to be a useful tool to guide teacher reflection, as it is structured in six key dimensions and has been validated in terms of clarity, coherence and relevance. However, the need was identified to add additional items to improve the sufficiency of some dimensions. Finally, a second validation process is suggested to ensure its reliability and applicability in different educational contexts.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the reflections of future kindergarten teachers when designing didactic sequences with the use of the bee-bot robot. A qualitative methodological design was followed to achieve this objective, collecting the data through a written record prepared by the participants from collaborative work. A total of 25 future teachers participated, forming six working groups. The data were analyzed with the content analysis technique, considering the criteria of didactic suitability–epistemic, cognitive, interactional, mediational, affective, and ecological–and their respective components. The results suggest that at the moment prior to the design of the didactic sequences, the reflections of the groups of future teachers are related only to some criteria, while, in the design of the proposed teaching and learning process, the units of analysis were related to all six criteria. With the results obtained, it is concluded that a future implementation and observation of the design of didactic sequences by the participants would allow the participants to consider more components of the criteria when reflecting. In addition, it is concluded that training that contemplates the criteria of didactic suitability, would also allow future teachers to deepen their reflections, guiding them with these tools.

Currently, teachers are being challenged to integrate sustainability into school classrooms in various disciplines, and the statistics education is not immune to this trend. Against this backdrop, in this work we investigate the belief system of 11 Chilean primary education teachers who are active in statistics education and its links with sustainability. To this end, we conducted semi-structured interviews and analyzed them using a qualitative methodology under an interpretive approach. The results show that teachers acknowledge the integration of statistics education and sustainability as a challenge, identifying as the most recurring topics their mastery of content and the development of skills.

The social, scientific and technological development of recent years has encouraged the incorporation of computational thinking in the school curriculum of various countries progressively, starting from early childhood education. This research aims to characterize future kindergarten teachers’ traits of didactic-mathematical and computational knowledge presented when solving and posing robotics problems. Firstly, aspects of the mathematical and computational knowledge of the participants (97 students of the subject of Didactics of Mathematics of the Degree in Early Childhood Education at a Spanish university) were identified when they solved problems as users of the Blue-Bot didactic robot. Secondly, we analyzed their justifications for reflecting on the design of robotics problems. The results indicate that future teachers present characteristics of didactic mathematical knowledge when solving and designing robotics problems, although errors and am- biguities are evident, especially in the procedures and representations of the programming. These shortcomings significantly influence the didactic suitability of the robotics problems they design. From a future perspective, in the training of future teachers, it is considered relevant to incorporate didactic-mathematical and computational knowledge that allows them to develop logical, spatial and computational thinking.

This study examines the impact of combining Lesson Study and the Didactic Suitability Criteria (DSC) for the development of teacher reflective skills. It involves six teachers in an Argentinean training program, spanning 15 virtual sessions over 5 months. Analysis of video recordings indicates significant improvement in reflective abilities, especially when using the DSC for lesson analysis. This approach enhances teaching quality and benefits student learning. The study suggests Lesson Study and the DSC are valuable tools for promoting collaboration and reflection among educators, particularly in math education. Further research with larger samples and long-term follow-up is recommended. This underscores the importance of integrating Lesson Study and the DSC in teacher training to enhance reflective competence and raise education quality.

Education is a fundamental tool to make a country's society equitable, just, and respectful of the environment. As primary education is compulsory for a country's population, it allows building knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development, in this sense, it is necessary to examine whether the primary education curricular bases offer learning opportunities and contexts for students at this stage to develop their awareness, knowledge and skills in a sustainable way. The qualitative methodology was used, specifically, the content analysis to analyze the 24 Chilean primary programs of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences under the cognitive domain of Education for sustainable development (ESD) and in terms of their learning objectives with the sustainability development goals (SDGs). The results show that an interdisciplinary stochastic education in the context of the curricular learning of Social Sciences and Natural Sciences provides learning opportunities to develop ESD at the different levels that make up primary education. It is observed that the Natural Sciences and Social Sciences curricula at all levels of primary education lead to ESD are being developed in an interdisciplinary manner (with these two subjects and stochastic themes).

If we are to understand and address today’s social, environmental and economic crises through education, we must introduce education for sustainable development (ESD) into classrooms and approach it from an integrated perspective. In so doing, this study aims to provide an overview of the current status of the still-emerging research agenda on the integration of ESD into mathematical education and statistical education. To this end, we conducted a systematic review of Scopus and Web of Science databases of theoretical and research articles published between 2010 and May 2023. In total, 32 studies were identified, conducted mostly in Europe, followed by South America, which mainly address teacher training. The results suggest that mathematics education and statistics education are an effective means of providing education focused on ESD, but that teachers still have limited knowledge and resistant attitudes. Therefore, initial and ongoing training must move towards characterizing proposals that provide examples and involve teachers in response to this challenge.