Abstract:

Nowadays society becomes more and more based on ICT and advanced technologies. As a consequence, the need for experts with a scientific and technology background is constantly increasing. Nevertheless, according to the latest studies the interest and motivation towards science is decreasing among students and consequently their interest in careers based on science and technology is decreasing as well. Mostly, it is caused by the fact that some teachers still use traditional teaching and learning methods even for an up-to-date curriculum for their science teaching.

The current situation is confirmed also by the results achieved by the worldwide surveys, such as Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). They show that, especially, European students often lack mathematical competences and key basic competences in science and technology. In fact often their scores are below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average (OECD) average while the best performances are achieved by Asian countries.

In this context, starting from the analysis of the state-of-the-art of the current learning processes used, this paper aims to describe an innovative learning and teaching approach, currently in the development phase, regarding the mathematics education for 14-16 years old students.

The innovative learning and teaching approach, to be developed, will exploit new potentialities emerging from a complex combination of the current approaches used in Europe and the Asian one, in particular the Singapore's method based on three phases, concrete-pictorial-abstract.

Moreover, this learning approach will converge, further, on the discovery from the students of the challenging connections between math and reality, especially through the use of the artworks, such painting, music, dance, theatre and on the strengthening of learning process through the use of emerging technologies.

As a result, this innovative combination will allow to create and develop a more effective educational environment for teachers and students by guaranteeing an active involvement and a creative inclusion of learners to let them test the interconnection of different languages, such as visual, sensory, verbal and nonverbal. This will favor, from one side, the development of both cognitive and emotional dimensions by promoting even an intercultural approach. From the other one, they will be able to benefit from the use of more attractive and fun pedagogical tools, in particular, in the study of mathematics sometimes considered difficult.

Keywords:

Mathematics education, learning by doing, inquiry-based learning, arts, technology-enhanced learning.