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Broadening the Scope of Research on Mathematical Problem Solving pp 475–503Cite as

Facebook and WebQuests as Tools for Engagement with Mathematical Problem-Solving: The Emotions Experienced in the Math@XXI Gymkhana

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Part of the book series: Research in Mathematics Education ((RME))

Abstract

This chapter addresses the partial results of a study which was based on a pedagogical intervention, Math@XXI, under the form of a gymkhana, a school mathematical competition of inclusive nature. Under an overarching design-based research methodological approach, this intervention was grounded on the ideas of mathematical enculturation and activity theory, with an emphasis on the interrelationship between affect and cognition. Math@XXI was aimed at students of the third cycle of basic education (12–15 years old) in a public school in Northern Portugal. It took place between January and June of 2015, with the participation of 155 students organized in teams. Six mathematics teachers of the school supported these teams. Each team had a closed group on Facebook with the gymkhana’s facilitator. The competition was organized in five tournaments, four in digital format (WebQuests) and a final on-site tournament without using the Internet. All tournaments challenged students to solve problems and engage in mathematical explorations. Our analysis is based on the records posted on the Facebook murals of the participating teams, as well as on their productions in the WebQuests and their responses to a final on-line assessment survey. We used both statistical procedures and content analysis. Here, we describe and discuss the emotions experienced during students’ participation in Math@XXI. The results suggest that the association of WebQuests and Facebook, by enabling students’ spontaneous expression of activating emotions, served as mediating tools in promoting students’ positive global affect towards mathematics.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The WebQuests may be found in https://sites.google.com/site/matematicxxi/home, https://sites.google.com/site/matematicxxi2/home, https://sites.google.com/site/matematicxxi3/ home, and https://sites.google.com/site/matematicxxi4/home.

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Acknowledgement

The first author was partially supported by CMUP (UID/MAT/00144/2013), which is funded by FCT (Portugal) with national (MEC) and European structural funds (FEDER), under the partnership agreement PT2020. The second author was partially supported by CAPES/Brazil, grant no. 8783/13-6.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Matemática, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto & Centro de Matemática da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Rosa Antónia Tomás Ferreira

  2. Departamento de Matemática, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil

    Marli Duffles D. Moreira

Authors
  1. Rosa Antónia Tomás Ferreira
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  2. Marli Duffles D. Moreira
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Correspondence to Rosa Antónia Tomás Ferreira .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade do Algarve and UIDEF Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Nélia Amado

  2. Universidade do Algarve and UIDEF Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Susana Carreira

  3. School of Education, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Keith Jones

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Tomás Ferreira, R.A., Moreira, M.D.D. (2018). Facebook and WebQuests as Tools for Engagement with Mathematical Problem-Solving: The Emotions Experienced in the Math@XXI Gymkhana. In: Amado, N., Carreira, S., Jones, K. (eds) Broadening the Scope of Research on Mathematical Problem Solving. Research in Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99861-9_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99861-9_21

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