This study shows the results of an autobiographical questionnaire of Spanish university students regarding two different educational models caused by the COVID-19 pandemic: face-to-face and e-learning. The aim is to discover their perceptions and opinions about their experiences during the learning process and what they have experienced during this global emergency and period of home confinement. The sample is made up of 100 students from the Primary Education Degree programme and the research was carried out through a qualitative study of the questionnaire. The results, divided into categories of each educational model, show the interpretation that the students make of the current reality and their own learning process. The most important aspect of the face-to-face learning model, according to 75% of the students, is direct communication with the teacher, and for 88% of them this model was effective. For the e-learning model, the flexible schedule, the economic savings and explanatory videos are the relevant ideas that the students express, with 68% stating that it was an effective model. The main conclusion is that the students prefer to continue with the face-to-face learning process (49%) rather than online teaching (7%) or, failing that, mixed or blended learning (44%), where the theoretical classes could be online and the practical classes could be face-to-face.

The curricular perspective based on teaching processes which takes formal mathematical knowledge as a starting point has been severely criticized. This traditional perspective considers that the formal mathematical knowledge has to be taught prior to the application so, once taught, it can be used to solve problems. Along with this criticism, curricular alternative proposals that have focused attention on the learning process (rather than in the teaching one) have been developed. Recently, game-based learning has been developed as a problem-based learning methodology, able to achieve a deeper implication of the students. In line with this approach, the main scope of this paper is to provide evidence of the learning process in game-based learning environments. To do this, student teachers have designed an educational escape room that fits curricular learning outcomes. This manuscript reports on an educational escape room experience that was implemented in three different Primary Education Schools (total student population of 117 students, while here we present a fragment of 5 participants). In order to evaluate the development of certain knowledge, a transcribed fragment is presented and analyzed. In the reported experience, evidence of learning processes and horizontal mathematization are reported in the frame of an educational escape room. This constitutes an evidence of learning processes in gamified environments.

In the particular case of Spain, student and teacher difficulties associated with the mathematical discipline have been evidenced in PISA and TEDS-M reports. As we consider that the teachers’ difficulties are connected to the students’ performance, we propose a multi-disciplinary approach to deliver specific didactic/mathematical knowledge to the trainee teachers. Such additional instruction shall be meaningfully connected to the real needs of the schools, so a service-learning approach is proposed here. In the present manuscript, the trainee teachers have co-designed educational escape rooms (in coordination with local schools) with the aim of mobilizing curricular knowledge. The goal of the educational escape rooms is to foster the mathematic-related competencies by establishing meaningful connections to other curricular disciplines (music-related knowledge, in the case of this study). This paper reports on the particular experience developed with a group of students (trainee teachers) while designing their educational escape rooms, focusing on the particular case of a specific student to evidence the formative potential of the procedure. The didactic suitability of the proposed escape room has been analyzed and professional development has also been discussed, showing the mobilization of relevant professional skills and fostering the related music and mathematical didactic competencies by shifting the teaching perspective from an algorithmic point of view to a more “reasoning and designing” strategy. This constitutes an evidence of the formative potential on the co-design of educational escape rooms, when designed in the frame of a service learning approach.

La particular obsesión por la formación en el conocimiento matemático puramente aritmético (una deformación particular del sistema español) produce estudiantes con marcadas dificultades en la resolución de problemas geométricos debido, en particular, a su escasa visión espacial. Sin embargo, en el afán de ir más allá en la implementación de estrategias de aprendizaje basado en problemas para  la enseñanza de conocimientos relacionados con el ámbito de la geometría, los enfoques para promover el aprendizaje digital se están volviendo cada vez más diversos, difundidos y generalmente bien aceptados. En particular, las estrategias de codiseño de procesos formativos es un campo de investigación que ofrece grandes posibilidades de desarrollo. En esta contribución presentamos los resultados obtenidos al desarrollar un módulo de aprendizaje mixto con actividades codiseñadas para trabajar el desarrollo de competencias ligadas al desarrollo del conocimiento geométrico en estudiantes de maestro. Este estudio se enmarca en un esfuerzo continuado por implementar metodologías de codiseño y aprendizaje mixto, presentando los resultados acumulados tras una experiencia y analizando, en particular, la utilidad de este tipo de estrategias para el estudio de la geometría.

Readers of the journal Education Sciences probably agree that playing games comes naturally—we all know how to play some game—however, because of the complexity of gaming, it is almost exclusively limited to mammals with regard to all animals: almost 80% of mammals use some sort of game for learning [...]

Eficacia comparativa de métodos de aprendizaje mixto en la enseñanza de nuevos algoritmos a maestros en formación: estudio de un caso para la elaboración de directrices de diseño Comparative efficiency of blended learning methods for teaching new algorithms to future teachers: study of a successful case to stablish design guidelines

Escape Room y aprendizaje mixto como herramientas para la formación de maestros de educación primaria Sala de fuga e aprendizagem mista como ferramentas para a formação de professores do ensino primário

The traditional way of teaching mathematics generates significant learning difficulties in students that are reflected in their academic performance. In recent years, the number of teachers and researchers interested in finding innovative, flexible and comprehensible methodologies has increased. The main objective of this article has been to carry out a theoretical review of the methodologies for learning/teaching mathematics at school level. Central elements of international and national method initiatives have been highlighted. The empirical evidence on the Singapore method and the Algorithm Based on Numbers (ABN) method confirms the need to include innovative and manipulative strategies in the classroom. The Singapore method has been shown as a source that improves students′ problem solving skill, mathematical competence, boosting reasoning, and a higher motivation. Some studies focused on the effectiveness of the ABN method and its influence on mathematical cognition. The use of this methodology and learning in flipped classroom have obtained significant results in teacher training. These results could provide guidance about how to improve pre-service education in Primary Bachelor’s Degree. The findings presented in the manuscript could be a basis for opening new lines of quantitative research, with the aim of analysing problem solving and the use of manipulative materials in mathematics. Thus, future research should focus on analysing the cognitive processes involved in mathematical learning, carrying out empirical studies in schools. In addition, it is necessary to improve future teachers’ training, so that they can learn about new alternatives for mathematical teaching and the available resources to be able to put it into practice. Moreover, alternative methodologies are a necessary driver for the improvement of mathematical performance both inside and outside the classroom, and also for the technological and economic development of countries.