Abstract:

Mathematics is a fundamental component of an individual’s education, taking on a significant role in their growth as free, critical autonomous citizens from kindergarten until the end of high school. A child is a curious and interested being, so it essential to explore these two aspects in tasks implemented in the classroom from the beginning of school life. Recently there have been some less encouraging results in regards to the learning of Mathematics and, therefore, the students’ hardships become evident, both in national assessment tests and international studies (OECD, 2013). Within this context, Mathematics is considered a difficult subject by the majority of our students. In order to minimize this problem, the Mathematics’ teachers try to understand how the students, at this early age, deal with mathematical concepts, establishing connections between Mathematics and their daily life. In this work we present an alternative way to bring mathematical concepts closer to children, by using children’s literature as a starting point. The fast motivation and increased enthusiasm demonstrated by the students who participated in this teaching experiment have led us to propose the illustration of children’s stories, leading to creating e-book comics, to be used in subsequent tasks focusing on mathematical questions. Some of the topics that worry teachers and researchers, from kindergarten until university, include the advantages of using children’s literature to introduce or consolidate mathematical concepts (Cotti & Schiro, 2004), as well as students’ behavior and attitudes when digital texts are used (Shalter, 2008; Weisberg, 2011). Despite this being a recurring topic in multiple international and national studies (Malathi & Rohani, 2010; Noorhidawati & Gibb, 2008; Woody, Daniel, & Baker, 2010; Noor, Embong & Abdullah, 2012; Palhares & Azevedo, 2010), this teaching strategy is something completely new in Portugal.

References:
[1] Cotti, R. & Schiro, M.(2004) Connecting Teacher beliefs to the use of children’s Literature in the teaching of Mathematics. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 7,329-356.
[2] Malathi, L. & Rohani, A. T.(2010). Utilization of e-book among university mathematics students. Proceeding of the International Conference on Mathematics Education Research (ICMER). Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 8,580-587.
[3] Noor, A., Embong, A. & Abdullah, M.(2012). E-books in Malaysian Primary Schools: the Terengganu Chapter, International Journal of Social, Management, Economics and Business Engineering, 6 (6),183-186.
[4] Noorhidawati, A. & Gibb, F.(2008). How students use the e-book – Reading or referring?, Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, 13(2),1-14.
[5] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD].(2013). PISA 2012 Results: What Students Know and Can Do – Student Performance in Mathematics, Reading and Science (Vol. I). PISA: OECD Publishing.
[6] Palhares, P. & Azevedo, F.(2010). Uma Proposta de Integração entre a Matemática e a Literatura Infantil em Contexto de Jardim-de-infância. Revemat: Revista Eletrónica de Educação Matemática, 5(1),15-24.
[7] Shalter, J.(2008). Picture Book Power: Connecting Children’s Literature and Mathematics. The Reading Teacher, 61(8),649-653.
[8] Weisberg, M. (2011) Student Attitudes and Behaviors Towards Digital Textbooks. Pub Res Q. 27,188–196.
[9] Woody, W., Daniel D. & Baker, C. A. (2010). E-books or textbooks: students prefer textbooks, Computers & Education, 55,945-948.

Keywords:

Mathematics, Children’s literature, e-book, Mathematics education.