Abstract:

Mathematics awakens emotions, some good, others not so much. Who has never felt frustration at not being able to reach the solution of a mathematical problem? And the dislike often felt in relation to Mathematics in the face of the constant inability to understand and apply mathematical concepts in the most varied situations? But Mathematics awakens many other emotions and good ones! Archimedes's cry "Eureka!" reveals the sensation and emotions, sometimes indescribable, felt at reaching an idea called "enlightened". These are the good emotions that educators and teachers aspire to trigger in their students. The existing literature on different methodologies, processes, and resources in Mathematics teaching is very vast, but converging on the idea of highlighting the presence and usefulness of Mathematics in everyday life. Around us, we identify numerous examples in which Mathematics is explicitly exposed, however, it also emerges in situations that require some effort in its recognition. By revealing itself in an indirect way, Mathematics sometimes captures the attention of many of those to whom it only arouses negative emotions, not associating it with the "weight" that it often exerts in classroom environments.

As part of a "Summer Academy", held in 2022, at a Portuguese university, aimed at students from the 2nd and 3rd Cycles of Basic Education and Secondary Education, a workshop was held specifically designed for a group of students from the 2nd Cycle of Basic Education, entitled "From the outside to the inside and from the inside to the outside". In this workshop, motivated by the children's book "De fora para Dentro e de Dentro Para Fora", mathematical concepts were worked on, in articulation with emotions through tasks that involved the construction of the "Wheel of My Emotions". This activity was intended to create an opportunity for students to explore mathematical concepts in an unlikely context, and in which Mathematics would not trigger difficulties or less good emotions. The generated informal learning environment also offered many opportunities to establish internal mathematical connections, addressing, in an integrated way, ideas from Data, Geometry, and Measurement domains. In this work, we will describe the implementation of this non-formal context pedagogical experience, and present/analyze the resulting results.

Keywords:

Mathematics Education, Emotions, Non-formal context learning, Interdisciplinarity.