Meletiou-Mavrotheri, Maria

At a time when mathematics and science provide essential knowledge tools and the foundations for lifelong learning skills, cross-national studies of student achievement indicate lack of mathematical and scientific competence for a considerable proportion of the student population across Europe. Acknowledging the central role of parents in children's learning, the EU-funded project SMASH (Success in MAth and Science at Home) aims to raise the educational standards of European youth in mathematics and science by cultivating underlying home cultures as springboards for learning. The project consortium is currently developing, and will then pilot test and deliver an innovative intercultural parent-trainer training course and related resources for professionals involved in parent education initiatives. Through the adoption of a blended learning approach that combines elearning with physical meetings, the course will equip these professionals with current knowledge, techniques, and implementation tools for the provision of high-quality, culturally differentiated parent training in mathematics and science education. Individuals completing the course will be trained to offer programs designed to educate parents of elementary and middle school children (ages 6-15) in how to best support their child's mathematics and science learning at home using pedagogically sound strategies and technologies. Parents unable to attend parent-training sessions could still study independently using the project knowledge base, which will provide open access to all of the project's outputs and resources. This, in turn, will contribute towards improved parental participation in children's learning. Parents will be empowered to understand and implement reform, providing a home environment that enhances children's scientific development and prepares them to meet the challenges of the digital age.

We provide an overview of EarlyStatistics, an online professional development course in statistics education targeting European elementary and middle school teachers. The course facilitates intercultural collaboration of teachers using contemporary technological and educational tools. An online information base offers access to all of the course content and resources.

The case study took place in a primary school in Cyprus (student ages 6-12), which implemented a two-year multifaceted professional development program aimed at the effective integration of tablet technologies within the mathematics curriculum. The program adopted a systemic, school-based and collaborative model of professional development that focused on the broad preparation and ongoing engagement of all key stakeholders. This article focuses on research conducted during the first year of the program implementation. It portrays the initial state of mobile device use in the case study school ecosystem, describes the process of tablet integration within the school setting, and interrogates the self-reported reflections of a core team of six (n=6) teachers in the school regarding their professional learning experiences as a result of participating in the program. Findings suggest that the model of professional development adopted by the program effectively contributed to the integration of mobile devices into the school setting and to teacher professional learning.

The research discussed here comes from an ongoing multifaceted two-year program designed to explore the potential of tablet technologies for enhancing mathematics teaching and learning at the primary school level. The program is taking place within a public primary school in Cyprus, and aims at the effective integration of tablet technologies within the mathematics school curriculum. It has adopted a systemic approach to the introduction of mobile devices in the school setting that focuses on the broad preparation and on-going engagement of all key stakeholders involved in the educational process. In the article, we report on the main experiences gained from the first year of the program. We describe the content and structure of the program, and discuss its impact on teachers' knowledge, skills, and confidence in incorporating tablet technologies within the mathematics curriculum.

Despite increased interest in mobile devices as learning tools, the amount of available primary research studies on their integration into mathematics teaching and learning is still relatively small due to the novelty of these technologies. Integrating Touch-Enabled and Mobile Devices into Contemporary Mathematics Education presents the best practices in mathematics education research and teaching practice by providing an account of current and future trends and issues in mobile mathematics learning and associated technologies and educational methodologies. This edited volume approaches a broad audience including researchers and practitioners interested in the exploitation of mobile technologies in mathematics teaching and learning, as well as mathematics teachers at all levels. This premier reference source compiles the best practices and recommended processes for effectively utilizing the vast capabilities of mobile technologies in the mathematics classroom through a collection of chapters covering topics including, but not limited to, touch-enabled virtual mapping, perceptual learning technologies, mobile teaching, statistics apps for mobile devices, smartphones for the visually impaired, pedagogical and instructional design, and touch screen interfaces in algebraic instruction.

The expanding use of data in modern society for prediction and decision-making makes it a priority for mathematics instruction to help students build sound foundations of inferential reasoning at a young age. This study contributes to the emerging research literature on the early development of informal inferential reasoning through the conduct of a two-phase exploratory study carried out in an urban upper elementary school (Grades 4 to 6) in Cyprus. In Phase I, Grade 6 (11-year-old) students’ initial understandings of samples and sampling were examined through an open-ended written assessment (n = 69), and follow-up interviews (n = 5). In Phase II, a teaching experiment guided by a hypothetical learning trajectory (HLT) was implemented in a Grade 6 classroom (n = 19). The HLT aimed to support the emergence of children’s reasoning about sampling issues through the provision of an inquiry-based learning environment designed to offer ample opportunities for informal, data-based inferences. Findings indicate that the efforts of the teaching experiment to integrate the existing body of research into a HLT that starts with children’s initial understandings supported students in moving towards more nuanced forms of reasoning about sampling.

In a world where the ability to analyze, interpret and communicate information from data are skills needed for daily life and effective citizenship, developing a statistically literate society has become a key factor in achieving the objective of an educated citizenry. Recognizing teachers' ongoing professional development and learning as a linchpin of instructional innovation and success for their students, the paper presents an EU-funded project exploits the affordances offered by ODL technologies to help improve the quality of statistics instruction offered in European schools. The project consortium has developed an online professional development course targeting elementary and middle school mathematics teachers around Europe. The course aims at helping teachers improve their pedagogical and content knowledge of statistics through exposure to innovative learning methodologies and resources, and cross-cultural exchange of experiences and ideas. A pilot delivery of the professional development course has just been completed. Twelve in-service teachers participated in the course, originating from three of the partner countries-Cyprus, Spain and Greece. To evaluate the applicability and success of the course, there was also a follow-up classroom experiment upon completion of the course. Participating teachers developed and delivered teaching episodes integrating the use of the course tools and resources provided to them. We describe the pedagogical and didactical approach underlying EarlyStatistics, the course content and structure and some preliminary findings from the pilot delivery of the course.

Digital games hold a lot of promise as tools for improving mathematics and statistics instruction in the early school years. The current article presents a case study that explored the potential of well-designed, mobile educational game apps for enhancing early statistics education. A teaching intervention took place in a rural Grade 2 (ages 7–8) primary classroom in Cyprus, which aimed to integrate mobile game apps Electric Company Prankster Planet and Kahoot! within the mathematics curriculum, so as to support learning of key ideas related to data collection, analysis and tabular and graphical representation. The main insights gained from the study indicate that appropriate exploitation of digital games can motivate young children and help them internalize important concepts related to data analysis and probability.