Resumen de La construcció significativa del coneixement matemàtic a l'eso des d'una perspectiva sociocultural
Marta Domingo Ballart
This study displays and analyzes the contents of the Mathematics subject in ESO¿s second cycle from a constructivist perspective. This analysis has been carried out by contrasting two groups of participants (control group and experimental group). These groups were formed by a sample of 240 students between the ages of 14 and 16 from four different educational centres of the Osona area. Research ¿ Action methodology has been employed, combining quantitative techniques (statistical study with the SPSS package) with qualitative analysis (transcriptions of interviews and discussion group). This study has been carried out after years of classroom observation, reflection and action. The theoretical framework employed is a cognitive one, based on Ausubel¿s Significative Learning Theory. Quantitative analysis shows how the researcher¿s design improves, on the one hand, the students¿ academic motivation and, on the other hand, their comprehensive memory, enabling them to achieve a more significant learning of the subjects¿ contents. Furthermore, our analysis shows that the proposed method is more comprehensive than those employed by teachers collaborating with control groups. The main aim of the qualitative analysis is that of identifying the elements which configure the programme and contribute to an improvement of the aspects mentioned above. The key elements here are: co-operation as the basis of group dynamics; the employment, in some cases, of easily handled materials; the type of interaction between teacher and students, where, through open discussion, students are lead by teaching staff towards the course objectives; induction, that is, deducing formulae by initially using examples which are close to the students¿ knowledge and experience or taken from everyday life (what we could call ¿down-top¿ mathematics). We should add here that the qualitative analysis does not only corroborate the results obtained by quantitative techniques, but also displays an increase of motivation in teaching staff. Teachers did show a positive attitude and welcomed the use and development of these materials in the next academic year. Finally, we discuss possible directions for further research.
