Adaptive Teaching Supported by ICTs to Reduce the School Failure in the Project “Scuola Dei Compiti”

Abstract

Abstract-Adaptive teaching consists in a teaching style aimed at overcoming inner differences among learners by providing them tailored ways to achieve outcomes according to their learning style, culture and needs. ICTs play an important role in supporting teachers with the adoption of adaptive strategies. Adaptive teaching acquires relevance in contexts of scholastic remediation and in reducing failures. The paper presents and discusses how adaptive teaching is used within "Scuola dei Compiti", a project proposed by the City of Turin (Italy) in collaboration with the University and the Polytechnic of Turin, aimed at reducing the drop-out rate and at enhancing scholastic success. University students help groups of 5-6 students aged 13-15 with their difficulties in the main subjects (Mathematics, Italian Language, Foreign Languages). Part of the Mathematics courses adopt a set of innovative computer based methodologies developed by the Department of Mathematics of the University of Turin, including a virtual learning environment integrated with an advanced computing environment, an automatic assessment system and a web-conference tool, which support adaptive teaching. The project has involved over 7500 students in the last 5 years; the results achieved, discussed in the paper, show the effectiveness of these methodologies with respect to traditional teaching methods.

Advantages of Using Automatic Formative Assessment for Learning Mathematics

“…Another relevant opportunity offered by interactive materials with AFA is that of facilitating adaptive teaching strategies. In fact, formative automatic feedback can work as an online tutor while students attempt the assignments at their own pace; the absence of restriction on the number of attempts allows weaker students to repeat the questions, while their most skillful classmates can put themselves to test with new ones [20]. Data collected by the platform can help teachers monitor learning and adjust instructional strategies accordingly.…”

Open Professional Development of Math Teachers Through an Online Course

“…The platform is integrated with various tools useful for learning STEM disciplines, in particular the Advanced Computing Environment Maple (https://www.maplesoft.com/) and the Automatic Assessment System Moebius Assessment (https://www.digitaled.com). The University of Turin has a great experience in the development and use of the Moodle platform for teaching (Barana et al, 2017b(Barana et al, , 2017c. The open online course is designed for teachers of Mathematics, but access is free through any social media, so all interested people can access it.…”

Immersive teacher training experience on the methodology of problem posing and solving in Mathematics

“…-use of an ACE (Advanced Computing Environment) for problem formulation, presentation, resolution and generalization (Barana, Fioravera, & Marchisio, 2017a); -automatic formative assessment with adaptive questions aimed at teaching students how to solve problems, guiding them step-by-step with interactive feedback in the solving process, through an ACE and an AAS (Automatic Assesment System) (Barana, Conte, Fioravera, Marchisio, & Rabellino, 2018b; Barana, Fioravera, Marchisio, & Rabellino, 2017) Within the PP&S Project, the activity of problem posing and solving, strongly characterized by cooperative learning, can be carried out face-to-face among students, in their classrooms or computer lab or among students at a distance, within a VLE (Virtual Learning Enviroment) dedicated to each class. At the same time, teachers develop problems for their students at a distance, within a VLE dedicated to the community of PP&S teachers throughout Italy, who also collaborate with each other exchanging ideas, teaching strategies and materials reviewed and tested in their classes (Barana et al, 2018a).…”