CMM Education Lab awards 9 Inquiry projects for Teacher Educators

CMM Education Lab awards 9 Inquiry projects for Teacher Educators

There were 20 academics from 8 universities across the country who were awarded the first competitive funds organized within the framework of RedFID, a digital platform created and led by the Education Laboratory of the Center for Mathematical Modeling of the University of Chile.

The purpose of RedFID (Red de Formación Inicial Docente), a digital platform created in 2022 by the CMM Education Lab, is to support the strengthening of teacher training in mathematics through communities of practice for trainers, online professional development modules and a digital library of pedagogical resources.

The more than 50 trainers (from 32 to 75 years old and belonging to 19 universities in the country) who are an active part of this technological ecosystem, developed the course of inquiry on their own teaching practice, around which were presented the initiatives that participated in this process that allocated resources to projects in the area of research or innovation.

Finally, 20 trainers from 8 universities were awarded 5 research projects and 4 innovation projects, which must be implemented during the second semester of 2023 and present their results at the Second National Meeting of Trainers, scheduled for December 13 and 14, at the Osorno Campus of the Universidad de Los Lagos.

Salomé Martínez and Helena Montenegro with part of the team that makes up the Network of Initial Teacher Educators (REDFID) of the CMM Education Laboratory. Photo: Alonso Farías.

Salomé Martínez, director of CMM-Edu, emphasized that “the objective of RedFID is to promote collaboration between academics from different universities and thus foster innovation in teacher training. Collaboration is not something natural, it requires that people know each other, have common codes and purposes, which has been achieved through this virtual community, with national impact and led by CMM-Edu”.

The high number of projects awarded is explained, according to Martínez, by “the desire and willingness to innovate in the preparation of future teachers throughout the country. These inquiry projects will promote the learning of all the members who are part of RedFID, and their achievements and challenges will also be known by all those who participate in it”.

According to Helena Montenegro, CMM researcher and leader of RedFID, this initiative “responds to a widely reported need in different countries: the lack of formal learning and professional development spaces for trainers of future teachers. RedFID is a pioneer in consolidating this space, since its design considers the particularities of the discipline being taught, in this case, mathematics”. He also emphasizes that “if we want meaningful learning experiences in school classrooms, these must first occur and be experienced in university classrooms. Therefore, the development and implementation of these inquiry projects facilitate new learning experiences in the classroom.

Among the academics who participated in the Inquiry for Teacher Educators projects is Loreto Alvarado, professor at Universidad Austral de Chile, who is part of the team that will develop the initiative “Institutionalization of mathematical knowledge for teaching: an innovation proposal in the framework of initial teacher training in basic education”. For her, working on this project has been an enriching and transforming experience: “It has given me the opportunity to observe how to plan and execute classes, especially in institutionalization, which is the focus of our project. I am convinced that this improves learning and will serve as a model for future practices as teachers”.

Carmen Oval and Paola Donoso, trainers at Universidad de Magallanes.

Carmen Oval, an academic from the Universidad de Magallanes, together with her colleague Paola Donoso, took this opportunity to present an intervention project for student teachers. Their initiative “Use of manipulative material in future teachers of Basic Education with mention in Language and Mathematics in training” is based on the experience they have had training teachers. With this methodology “we have seen that students understand the most difficult concepts better. However, we had not had the opportunity to systematize and truly analyze the effects of the use of the material on the learning of future teachers”. He emphasized that “participating in training sessions is essential, as it allows us to update ourselves both in terms of content and teaching strategies”.

See here the details of the initiatives that were awarded resources, ordered according to the universities to which the trainers belong:

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile:

  • “Factors that influence the low valuation given by mathematics pedagogy students to the use of technological tools both for the resolution of disciplinary problems and for their potential use in their own teaching practice”.
  • “Teacher reflection as a competence to be developed during initial teacher education”.

Universidad de Santiago:

  • “Use of Matlab for graphical representation of functions of one and two variables in the subject of higher and vector calculus for trainee physics and mathematics teachers”.

Universidad de O´Higgins:

  • “Opportunities and challenges of co-teaching in the initial training of mathematics teachers”.
  • “To inquire into the perspectives of university mathematics teachers, belonging to the careers of basic pedagogy and mathematics pedagogy at the Universidad de O’Higgins, when teaching students with disabilities”.

Universidades de Chile y Santo Tomás:

  • “Problem solving and math anxiety: voices of students of Pedagogy in Kindergarten Education and Pedagogy in Basic Education”.

Universidad de Atacama:

  • “Lesson Study on Number Sense in Division of Fractions”.

Universidades de Chile, Austral y O´Higgins:

  • “Institutionalization of mathematical knowledge for teaching: a proposal for innovation in the framework of initial teacher training in basic education”.

 Universidad de Magallanes:

  • “Use of manipulative material in future teachers of Basic Education with mention in Language and Mathematics in training”.

 

RedFID

It is an initiative financed by the Basal project FB210005, the Fondef ID21I10067 and the Fondecyt Regular 1212067. Its activities are part of the UNESCO Chair in Teacher Training for Teaching Mathematics in the 21st Century, led by CMM-Edu, with the participation of the Ministry of Education, the Organization of Iberoamerican States (OEI) and the Consortium of Universities of the State of Chile (CUECH).

CMM Communications.

Posted on Sep 26, 2023 in News