Technology-mediated realistic mathematics education and the bridge21 model: A teaching experiment

Aibhín Bray (1) , Elizabeth Oldham (1) , Brendan Tangney (1)

1 Trinity College Dublin

Many recent curriculum reforms aim to address shortfalls with regard to student engagement with mathematics by harnessing the affordances of technology, social constructivist pedagogies, contextual scenarios, and/ or approaches aligned with Realistic Mathematics Education (RME). However, these may not sit well within a conventional classroom setting; a 21 st Century (21C) learning model may be more appropriate. This paper describes a teaching experiment in Ireland, supporting an ongoing curriculum reform; it used technology-mediated activities consonant with social constructivism, RME, and 21C learning. The study involved twenty students (aged 15–17) over a two-day period. Results suggest that the approach has the potential to increase student engagement with and confidence in mathematics.

Mots clés: RME; contextualised learning; twenty-first century learning; technology-mediated; post-primary education

Domaines: Education; Histoire et perspectives sur les mathématiques [math.HO]

Aibhín Bray, Elizabeth Oldham, Brendan Tangney. Technology-mediated realistic mathematics education and the bridge21 model: A teaching experiment. CERME 9 - Ninth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Education; ERME, Feb 2015, Prague, Czech Republic. pp.2487-2493. ⟨hal-01289351⟩