INVITED SPEAKERS

 

2022/2023

 

FEBRUARY 15TH 2023, 2:30PM (GMT)

          Noah Dana-Picard

 

Using news items to explore plane curves: a STEAM approach with planets’ orbits

From time to time, satellites, comets, probes and robots provide the main titles in newspapers and other media. For example, The triple launch of spacecrafts towards Mars which occurred in August 2020 drew a large attention. We used this to attract the students to develop very simple models of trajectories in space, using mathematical software. This provided an incitement to study parametric curves, and to broaden their scope with examples providing aesthetic creations, without a compulsory physical meaning. Among the items which can be shown and introduced to the technology-based activities are the hand-made drawings by Kepler of planetary motions viewed from  the Earth.

A byproduct of the study is enhancing the importance of mastering the precision of approximations. This is also illustrates why engineers have to recompute all the time the  trajectories of their spacecrafts.  

The combination of all these elements in the study is a characteristic of a STEAM approach to Education. Such activities with students enhance the 4 C’s of 21^st Century Education: Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking and Creativity. A 5^th C may be also involved: Curiosity. And not only the eponym Mars robot.

 

Short bio

 

Thierry (Noah) Dana-Picard is a Professor in Mathematics, a lecturer and researcher at Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT, Israel), an academic institution mostly devoted to High-Tech Engineering. Over the years, he chaired the Mathematics Department, and afterwards served as President of JCT. Now he is the director of a research chair at JCT. He is interested in algebraic curves and surfaces (isoptics, envelopes, offsets, etc.). He is also strongly involved in Teacher Training, and an important part of his research is devoted to Mathematics Education in a technology-rich environment. He is also involved in graduate courses on mathematics related to space technologies, and acts as advisor for Ph.D.s related to STEAM Education.

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JANUARY 18TH 2023, 2:30PM (GMT)

                 Christopher Sá

 

Building Engineering Prototypes

The current Engineer has little initiative in the creation of prototypes that can later originate new products. The sooner engineers start their prototyping process, the faster they can be useful to industry or be compensated economically. The academy has, therefore, the duty to take the first step as an educational agent.

 

Short bio

Dr Sá owns:

• PhD Degree in Chemical Engineering (FEUP), MSc in Environmental Technology (UM), Degree in Chemical Engineering (ISEP).
• Environmental Technology Engineer in EFACEC, SA - Energy (1995-96) and EFACEC, SA – Environment (1996-97).
• Professor in IPB (1998-99), UM (2000-01) and ISEP (since 1999).
• Current interests: Education; Water and Air Quality; Energy Efficiency; Process Modelling and Optimization.

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DECEMBER 7TH 2022, 2:30PM (GMT)

                 Eduardo Nunes

 

Design and implementation of game based learning and teaching solutions

Gamification is one of the most promising areas in education, in particular pre-university students, with the potential to bring fun and motivation to students, which, in turn, result in better learning outcomes and retention. Among gamification solutions, game-based learning/teaching is among the solutions that present the highest levels of immersion, interactivity and dynamics. However, it also presents the most confusing set of potential solutions and some of which implies a set of skills or previous experience teachers do not always have. This Seminar aims at bringing some clarity into the field and give practical, clear possible solutions for implementation and/or testing in classrooms.

 

 

Short bio

Eduardo Nunes is co-founder of Kendir Studios, a research and development company in Vila Nova de Gaia that focuses on the development and commercial implementation of game-based learning and teaching digital solutions and immersive learning 3D environments. Additionally to taking on the main function of game design and team management, he is also a researcher at the Center of Research for Innovation in Education of the Polytechnic Institute of Oporto (inED - ESE - IPP), where he helps coordinate the "Schoolers & Scholars  (SNS): Role-Playing Games (RPG) no Processo de Ensino e Aprendizagem dos 1º CEB e 2º CEB" research project. He has published several papers and taught seminars and workshops on game subjects such as based learning, gamification, storytelling in education and digital learning environments.

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NOVEMBER 23Rd 2022, 2:30PM (GMT)

                 Mário Cruz

 

Escaping from the Traditional Classroom - The Octalysis Framework applied to Higher Education Teaching

In this seminar we will focus on gamified practices and its resources which cater for the development of the so-called soft skills, including the escape room approach (either physical or digital).  Therefore, the aim of this seminar is to reflect upon Chou’s (2016) Octalysis framework and how it can effectively be applied to Higher Education Teaching contexts. The implementation of gamification designs and  practices within this type of framework allow us to understand how we can implement effective approaches towards a transformative classroom. 

 

Short bio

Dr. Mário Cruz is Associate Professor at the School of Education of the Polytechnic of Porto, where he teaches Spanish as a Foreign Language, Hispano-American Literature and Culture, Didactics of Languages, Intercultural Education and Educational Technology. He holds a Graduate Degree in Teaching of English and German (University of Aveiro), a Postgraduation Course on Special Education (Polytechnic of Porto), a M.A. in Didactics of Languages (University of Aveiro), a M.A. in Teaching of English and Spanish at Basic Education (Polytechnic of Porto), a M.A. in Teaching of English and Spanish at 3rd Cycle of Basic Education and Secondary School (University of Aveiro), a PhD in Didactics and Professional Development (University of Aveiro) and another PhD in Linguistic Studies (University of Vigo, Spain).  Since the present academic year, he has been serving in the Services of the Presidency of the Polytechnic of Porto, as Director of the Center for Pedagogical Innovation of the Polytechnic of Porto.

His doctoral theses and Master's dissertations have as main focuses: critical hyperpedagogy, the intercultural and plurilingual approach, the use of technologies in the teaching-learning process, gamification, distance learning and linguistic and cultural varieties.

He is currently an integrated researcher and the coordinator of the thematic line "Teacher Training" at inED – Research Center for Innovation in Education (Research Center regulated by the Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal), where he directs the following research projects: "CLIL 4 U - implementation, monitoring and evaluation of bilingual education projects", "PEPPA 6/7 - Primary English Practice Program for Ages 6/7”, “Schoolers & Scholars (SnS): Role-Playing Games (RPG) in the teaching and learning process of the 1st CEB and 2nd CEB” and "VarLang - Linguistic and cultural varieties in the teaching of foreign languages".

He is the author of numerous national and international scientific publications, namely books, book chapters and scientific articles indexed in Web of Science, Scopus and Qualis, as well as Editor/Associate Editor of several scientific journals and reviewer of articles in his areas of expertise. 

Recently, he has taken on the role of Expert at the Higher Education Assessment and Accreditation Agency (A3ES), within the scope of various processes of evaluation/accreditation of study cycles, in the field of ??educational sciences.

 

REGISTRATION

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2021/2022

JUNE 2nd 2022, 2:30PM (GMT+1)

                 Chantal Buteau

 

An inquiry-based approach to teaching computational thinking in university mathematics

There are different approaches to integrating computational thinking (CT) in university mathematics: e.g., through a compulsory computer science course requirement, as part of a modeling or numerical methods course, or throughout an entire mathematics program (such as the integration at the University of Oslo in Norway, where computer programming is used as a transversal problem-solving tool). In this seminar, I will present and reflect on an inquiry-based CT-integrated implementation, for over 20 years, in the mathematics program at Brock University (Canada). First, using the Instrumental Approach as a theoretical lens, I will discuss selected results from a 5-year research project, based on qualitative and quantitative analyses and addressing the following questions:

• How do instructors support math majors and future math teachers’ appropriation of programming as a meaningful instrument for pure or applied mathematical inquiry?
• Which aspects of their use of programming for mathematical inquiry do these students find the most challenging?
• What teaching aspects do students find the most effective to support their learning through inquiry?

Second, by reflecting on my own experience, I will share further views on challenges and opportunities encountered as an instructor.

 

Short bio

Dr. Chantal Buteau is Full Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Brock University (Canada). Since she joined Brock in 2004, Chantal has been involved in the teaching of the programming-based mathematics courses discussed in this seminar. In 2018, she also introduced a 3^rd course version specifically designed for future teachers. Chantal has a PhD in mathematics (from the University of Zurich); but over the years, she has progressively been involved in education research with a main focus on the integration of digital technology for (university) mathematics learning, including programming, CAS, and epistemic mathematics (computer) games. She has taken part in various collaborative research projects funded by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), such as “Computer Algebra Systems (CAS) in University Instruction: An International Research Study on CAS Usage and Sustainability.” She currently leads a SSHRC-funded project entitled “Educating for the 21st Century: Post-secondary students learning ‘progmatics’ (computer programming for mathematical investigation, simulation, and real-world modeling).” Chantal recently conducted research work for the Ontario Ministry of Education (Canada) about the teaching and learning of elementary coding and secondary school computer science. She is currently the co-director of the Mathematics Knowledge Network (http://mkn-rcm.ca), which brings together diverse mathematics education stakeholders from across Ontario (Canada), and she serves as the leader of its Computational Modelling community of practice

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May 26th 2022, 2:30PM (GMT+1)

                   Paula Peres

 

Challenges of e/b-Learning Systems

This session will address the different models for learning and how there’s an overall shift from single-event training to cultures of continuous learning.

 

Short bio

Dr. Paula Peres has an aggregation in the doctoral area of e-Learning, a post-PhD in Education technologies and a PhD in area Information Systems. Master in computer science and graduate in Math Computer. She has a Post-graduation in adult education. She is currently teaching on the Information System scientific area in the School of Accounting and Administration of Porto / Polytechnic of Porto (iscap/p.porto). She was the pro-president for e-Learning of Polytechnic of Porto. She was responsible for the Training Center and Services of ISCAP/ Polytechnic of Porto. She is the coordinator of the Unit of eLearning and Pedagogical Innovation of P.PORTO (EIPP/P.PORTO). She is a director of the Master in Assistance in Digital Communication. He is a member of the commission for distance learning at A3ES (Higher Education Assessment and Accreditation Agency). President and Member of different external evaluation commissions for the accreditation of study cycles taught at a distance

 

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May 12th 2022, 2:30PM (GMT+1)

       Houssam El-Kasti

 

Teaching mathematics at the foundation level. How to make the best of it?

Teaching mathematics at the foundation level, (a semester or one year that prepares students to enter university filing the gap between school and college mathematics) is a challenging mission. Students come from different backgrounds with low level of mathematics paired with low like for the subject.

Our job as instructors for such group necessitate the use of multiple teaching models, strategies, and tools.

In this lecture, I will share my experience teaching this kind of courses at three universities for more than 15 years. What worked and what did not work with me. Also, one of my best lessons and technological tools.

 

Short bio

Dr. Houssam El-Kasti from Beirut, Lebanon.
Currently teaching mathematics at the foundation program as a lecturer at Qatar University, Doha, Qatar. Professional in mathematics education with specialty of preparing teachers to teach conceptual mathematics with technology. Has a vast experience in teaching mathematics in schools and universities such as the American University of Beirut (aub) and the Lebanese University. Also experienced in teaching undergraduate and graduate mathematics education courses (in Lebanon). In the past 10 years, has attended more than 10 international conferences about mathematics education and teaching mathematics with technology where he presented his work and ideas. His greatest achievement was getting an invitation to present in the 14th International Congress on Mathematics Education (ICME 14) in Shanghai, China that was supposed to be held in July 2020 but was postponed until July 2021. His teaching philosophy stems from the Humanistic philosophy. He likes to use theories and educational researches to serve practitioners. To make mathematics more loved and appreciated by school-students he believes constructivism and STEAM education are the solution. For improving the practices of mathematics teachers he found that scaffolding and professional development done over many iterations are the solutions.
His latest international collaboration is with JKU (Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria) working on projects related to mathematics education theories, design, and STEAM education. His moto is ‘Never stop learning, never stop teaching’

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April 28th 2022, 2:30PM (GMT+1)

 

       Zaira Ortiz-Laso

 

Design and implementation of a STEAM professional development program for Spanish high school teachers

In the last years, educators and policymakers have advocated for an integrated education approach of the STEAM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics). In Spain, this approach is promoted through the last law of education to be implemented in September 2022. The new curriculum considers STE(A)M as one out of eight competences that students must develop when finishing compulsory education at the age of 16. However, Spanish high school teachers are subject-specific, i.e., they have often been trained for teaching one STEAM discipline. In this seminar, I will describe the main issues high-school teachers have encountered when implementing STEAM Education and how such issues could be overcome through the design of a specific professional training program. The program should contain at least four main dimensions: (1) theoretical sessions, (2) experimental activities, (3) lesson designs, and (4) implementation practices. During the lesson designs and implementation practices teachers must be supervised by STEAM trainers and researchers. The results presented in this seminar are a consequence of the research conducted within the European project STEAMTeach (https://www.steamteach.unican.es/; Erasmus+).

 

Short bio

Zaira Ortiz-Laso holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and a master’s degree in Teacher Training in Compulsory and Upper Secondary Education (also in maths), both granted from University of Cantabria (Spain). She is currently doing a PhD on mathematics education in the same university, under the supervision of Professor Diego-Mantecón. Her PhD focuses on characterizing the contribution of this discipline under the STEM approach. Zaira has participated in several EU-funded projects for promoting this education in high school regular lessons, including STEMforYouth (Horizon2020), STEAMTeach (Erasmus+), and Mathematics EduLarp (Erasmus+).

 

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April 13th 2022, 2:30PM (GMT+1)

       Farida Nurhasanah

 

Title: Fostering Teachers’ Professional Development through Dynamic Digital Technologies: A reflective pathway to empower mathematics teachers in the digital era

 

Short bio

Dr Farida Nurhasanah is a Deputy Director for Program, SEAMEO Regional Centre for QITEP in Mathematics, Indonesia. She is Lecturer and Researcher at Sebelas Maret University, Faculty of Education and Teacher Training, Mathematics Education Department. Her research interests include basic natural phenomena and mathematical thinking: Mathematical abstraction, representation, reasoning, problem-solving, and proportional thinking. Information technology and human in knowledge technology: Media and technology for teaching mathematics, and doing teacher professional development programs. Learning, Teaching and Interaction: Games for teaching mathematics. Language culture and society: STEM and STEAM activities using natural and cultural context. Physical activity, health and wellbeing: mathematics for special need students

march  31st 2022, 2:30pm (GMT+1)

 

   José-Manuel Diego-Mantecón

 

Title: Subject-specific teachers implementing STEAM activities at secondary school education: the importance of belonging to a diverse learning community

In many countries, secondary school education teachers are the result of a consecutive training program. Firstly, individuals enroll in a bachelor’s subject-specific degree (e.g., Physics) for later taking a teaching master’s degree that qualifies them to instruct a subject linked to their first degree (e.g., Maths or Physics). Secondary school education teachers (covering 12-18 years of age in Spain), are thus specialized in a specific subject. In other words, they do not receive, in their first degree nor in their master degree, interdisciplinary subject training to be able to implement an STEAM education approach in the classroom. Recent studies have shown that high school teachers with non- mathematics specialization face difficulties to foster the content of this subject in STEAM projects, while mathematics-specialized teachers try to avoid real projects where mathematics does not take a dominant role (Diego-Mantecón et al., 2021, 2022). In this seminar, I will present the strategy that the Open STEAM Group follows for naturally exploiting the implementation of the STEAM approach. This strategy focuses on receiving support from a STEAM-teaching community with teachers from diverse specializations, researchers, and professionals that assist other teachers on the design and implementation of integrated activities.

Diego-Mantecon, J. M., Prodromou, T., Lavicza, Z., Blanco, T. F., & Ortiz-Laso, Z. (2021). An attempt to evaluate STEAM project-based instruction from a school mathematics perspective. ZDM Mathematics Education, 53(5), 1137-1148. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-021-01303-9

Diego-Mantecón, J. M., Ortiz-Laso, Z., & Blanco, T. F. (2022). Implementing STEM projects through the EDP to learn mathematics: the importance of teachers’ specialization. In P. R. Richard, M. P. Vélez, & S. Van Vaerenbergh (Eds.), Mathematics Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (pp. 399-415). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86909-0_17

 

Short bio

Professor Jose-Manuel Diego-Mantecón studied pure mathematics at Royal Holloway University of London and received his M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics education from Cambridge University (UK). He has a large experience on international projects. He was part of the Millennium Mathematics Project (MMP) at the University of Cambridge, directed by the theoretical physicist and mathematician John Barrow. As part of the MMP, Jose was also responsible for several years of the Spanish version of the Maths Thesaurus Project— a multilingual and interactive mathematics dictionary. Jose has an extensive background on the evaluation of comparative studies. In 2012 developed a consistent instrument to evaluate student mathematics-related beliefs in Spain, Slovakia, Ireland, England, and Cyprus (Diego-Mantecón, 2013). Jose has collaborated with the TIMSS project, being the Spanish representative for designing the mathematics items for TIMSS 2015. Nowadays, Jose participates in five international STEM-related projects: KIKS (Eramus +), STEMforYouth (H2020), EduLarp (Erasmus+), STEAMTeach (Erasmus), and Aut0Math (Eramus +). He is also director of the Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computation at Universidad de Cantabria, and head of the Open STEAM Group: https://www.opensteamgroup.unican.es/

 

REGISTRATION: https://forms.gle/iMKM7UahUWpHWa6t5

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2020/2021

 

June  2nd 2021, 3:00pm (GMT+1)

 

                Angel Krause

 

Title: Caring for Students in the Online Setting: Examining Practices which Encourage Students to be their Real Selves

More than ever during times of crisis students need to be able to project their real selves during their learning experience, being emotionally and socially present. The concept of social presence within the Community of Inquiry framework is described as “the ability of participants in a CoI to project themselves socially and emotionally, as ‘real’ people (i.e., their full personality), through the medium of communication being used” (Garrison et al., 2000, p. 94). Richardson and Swan (2003) suggested that high perceptions of social presence correlated to perceived learning and satisfaction with the instructor. Social presence at its core is participants of the community of inquirers being human, being emotionally real (Garrison et al., 2000).

The presentation will review three themes that emerged from a multiple case study of how three Hispanic women described their experiences of being their real selves while completing fully online courses. They included a) the ways professors honored students’ assets, b) access to other students/cohort and the instructor through pedagogical choices, and c) consistency in course design and facilitation. The role of synchronous sessions, having real access to the instructor v. pseudo access, and the predictability of course design and facilitation all contributed to the participants' ability to be their real selves.  Perceptions of instructors exhibiting care will be discussed, along with perceptions of lack of care. Suggested future practices for instructors and universities based on key findings will be presented.  Additionally, an inquiry activity will guide attendees to evaluate their current care practices from a student’s perspective.

Garrison, R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2–3, 87–105.

Richardson, J. C., & Swan, K. (2003). Examining social presence in online courses in relation to students’ perceived learning and satisfaction. JALN, 7(1), 68–88.

 

Short bio

Born and raised in California’s diverse Central Valley, Dr. Angel Krause began her educational journey teaching high school health and social sciences.  Moving from teaching in the brick and mortar classroom to a fully online setting in 2006 required her to be an early adopter of tools that are now common (i.e. synchronous tools).  In 2010 she was hired at her alma mater, Fresno Pacific University, to direct the Clear Credential program working with beginning teachers and to serve as the Assistant Director in their fully online Masters in Curriculum.  Now serving as the Teacher Education Intern Director, she facilitates blended and fully online coursework in curriculum, classroom management, and health education.  With 15 years of experience in online education and her direct work with teachers in P-20 settings, she has experienced a unique convergence of theory and practice encouraging continued learning and growth as an educator.  She holds secondary credentials/licensures in social sciences and health, an M.A. in Education: Curriculum & Teaching with a focus in Technology, and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership: Instructional Design and Development.

 

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MAY  19th 2021, 3:00pm (GMT+1)

 

 

                Janika Leoste

 

Title: How to make TEL Innovations sustainable

Rapid technological advances lead educational systems and their stakeholders to initiate various technology-centered innovations with the aim of enhancing teaching and learning practices with technology, i.e. of introducing Technology Enhanced Learning. Research indicates that many of these TEL innovations fail to become sustainable (i.e. they do not change neither teachers' teaching practices nor students' learning practices). An unsustained innovation, however, often means that valuable invested human and material resources become wasted.

My presentation aims to share pieces of information about designing and implementing TEL innovations with a greater potential to sustainability. The focus of this discussion is on identifying the factors that influence TEL innovation sustainability, and on apprehending their relevance in different TEL innovation process stages.

 

Short bio

Janika Leoste is a PhD candidate at the School of Educational Sciences of Tallinn University (Estonia). Her research includes the sustainability of technology enhanced educational innovations and didactics on STEAM teaching in all stages of education, including using robot integrated learning in early childhood and primary education.

 

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MAY  5th 2021, 3:00pm (GMT+1)

 

           Paul Magnuson

 

Title: Student Self-Regulation in Action

Building on work in the agile mindset (www.edgility.school; www.peakchallenges.ch; www.arcforschools.org), the Leysin American School runs classes across grades 8-12 to first and foremost help students practice self-regulation, ground content areas like the arts, STEM, and entrepreneurship.

The goals of these courses are contained in an acronym based on the French for baking (CUIRE): Collaboration, Uplift, Imagination, Respect, and Effort. The courses are student-directed, with input and support from teachers in the role of coach, cheerleader, safety manager, team member, tutor, or any other appropriate role beside all-knower, leader, and final arbiter of achievement (the courses are in fact ungraded).

We'll introduce the courses with some student voices, discuss how we got where we are and our connection with the agile mindset, and why we believe letting go of curricular and instructional preconceptions are so important.

Interesting for participants is the location of these courses in a traditional school and curriculum - the place where most of our work focused on changing current assumptions needs to take place, since traditional describes the overwhelming number of our schools across the world.

 

Short bio

Paul Magnuson leads a research center using teacher action action research as professional development.The research center welcomes international visiting scholars annually and travels to other schools and organizations to work on innovative teaching and learning. Paul is a member of the Scrum Alliance team that developed the Agile Certified Educator, a new certification of Scrum Alliance. He is also a founding member of the Agile Research Consortium for Schools, a one-stop website for all things agile in ed. The school's research center is www.las.ch/laser and Paul's small personal consulting (and books for children) can be found at www.magnusonedstudio.ch. Paul is also an instructor for Moreland University. 

 

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April  21st 2021, 3:00pm (GMT+1)

 

           Tony Houghton

 

Title: Utilising Industry Hothousing Practices for STEAM Collaborative Problem Solving in Schools and STEAMTEACH

 

Short bio

 

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April  7th 2021, 3:00pm (GMT+1)

           Yves Kreis

 

Title: Transition from traditional to hybrid to online courses for pre-service elementary school teachers at the University of Luxembourg Sub Title: STEAM integrated approach in the project MathEduc @ BScE

During the past year, technology has started enabling new forms of teaching and learning in higher education in Luxemburg. Thus, to be able to work more closely with elementary school pre-service teachers, we shifted our mathematics education course during the past years to flipped classroom approaches and worked with synchronous and asynchronous teaching on- and off-campus modes. Furthermore, due to the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to shift our teaching to entirely online flipped classroom approaches together with outdoor mathematical trails with STEAM integrated assessments. This final shift to a fully online flipped classroom, with self-paced, student-centred teachings and learnings, showed strong positive effects on pre-service elementary school teachers in mathematics teaching. In this presentation, we will outline results of this transition period and describe results from different studies.

Short bio

Yves Kreis is Senior Lecturer in the research area Teaching & Learning of the Department of Education and Social Work of the Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences of the University of Luxembourg. He has a PhD in Educational Sciences (Dr. paed.) of the University of Education Ludwigsburg (Germany).
University of Fribourg (Switzerland) where he worked as an undergraduate assistant for 3 years. Prior to joining the University, he worked for several years as teacher in various Luxembourgish Primary Schools, and as Mathematics teacher in serving in several Luxembourgish Secondary Schools.

 

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MARCH  17th 2021, 3:00pm (GMT)

 

           Chris Brownell

 

Title: Can University Admission Policy Regarding Mathematics Change the World?

There is both the need for and the seeds of a revolution in Secondary Mathematics Curriculum. The pandemic has revealed how rapid advances in technology, decline of interest, increase in the complexity of the problems the next generation faces, and dramatic inequities of access are combining to call into question the narrowed focus on preparation for calculus of secondary maths programs. Combine these with the unchecked proliferation of mal-dis-information and outright lies that are the fodder of extremist factions of every ilk and we soon see that we need to assist children in the navigation of a world more intensely driven by data than ever before. In this talk I will argue that the Academy can aid the world in preparing the next generations to evolve into the future, at least in part, by broadening what it considers as the basics of mathematics and end the hegemony of calculus.

 

Short bio

Christopher Brownell Ph.D. Associate Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Education working mainly with pre-service mathematics teachers. After earning his doctorate in his 50s he is now a Director of the Mathematics & STEAM Education Master’s degree programs at Fresno Pacific University in California. Multi/Transdisciplinary studies in STEAM and the growing role of Data Science in education are his current research focuses. He is co-author of the popular book: Math Recess Playful Learning in an Age of Disruption.

 

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MARCH  3RD 2021, 3:00pm (GMT)

           Morten Brekke

 

Title: High fail rate inspired math project – How MatRIC support really helps during “lockdown”

This talk is divided in two parts:

Part 1 will describe a project initiated by MatRIC (Centre for Research, Innovation and Coordination of Mathematics Teaching www.matric.no). In 2017 we started a project in corporation with the School of Business and Law at our University. A forty percent fail rate in mathematics for future economists inspired MatRIC to get to the core of the problem: insufficient prior knowledge. I will describe how we now are down to 11 percent fail rate and improved grades. It is a mix of blended learning, pre-test (diagnostic), pre-courses, workshops, assessment-tool and improved student support.

Part 2 will describe how we trough experience are able to support our students during the corona lockdown. Lecturers and tutors in mathematics are just keystrokes away. Teaching and MatRIC's drop-in for mathematics support is undertaken on digital platforms.

 

Short bio

Professor Brekke is Vice Rector for Education for the period 1 August 2019 - 31 July 2023 at University of Agder.

As vice rector for education, Brekke heads the Academic Affairs Committee. He also leads the work developing a strategy in the priority area Learning and Education for the Future, with special emphasis on developing a future oriented educational leadership.

Brekke has been working at UiA since 1993. Throughout his career, he has focused on quality and development in teaching. He has a central role in MatRIC, an international centre for mathematics didactics, which has been appointed a Centre for Excellence in Education.

He wants to make room for development and testing of different teaching methods which will improve the quality of learning outcomes - and also disseminate the knowledge created.

Brekke has long been a role model in the pedagogical uses of video and other digital technologies in mathematics teaching, and he has published several articles on the topic. In 2018, he was awarded Excellent Teaching Practitioner as the first recipient at UiA.

Brekke has a goal of improving students’ achievements; he therefore emphasises quality culture and systematicity to improve quality in the field of education. He is particularly concerned with building a good and inclusive learning environment.

In keeping with the university’s ambitions for the skills reform “Learning throughout life”, Brekke strives to highlight and strengthen alumni relations and continuing education at UiA.

Brekke was formerly a college lecturer, university lecturer and assistant professor and received his Cand. Scient. in theoretical astrophysics from the University of Oslo.

 

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FEBRUARY  24th 2021, 3:00pm (GMT)

         Noah Dana-Picard                         Sara  Hershkovitz 

 

Title: Golden Ratio: developments towards abstraction from a STEAM perspective

The Golden Section is a mathematical concept that is one of the most famous examples

of connections between mathematics and the arts, mostly visual arts. A less known issue is the connections with non-visual arts and with other scientific domains.

We offer a graded approach from concrete appearances of the Golden Section towards more abstract occurrences, from geometry to space studies and establishing calendars.

This STEAM approach relies on a technology-rich environment. It enables educators to incite their students to explore, discover, conjecture and reveal new insights into sometimes traditional topics.  Both educators and students may have benefit of the specific cultural background of the students.

 

Short bio

 

Thierry (Noah) Dana-Picard is a Professor of Mathematics at the Jerusalem College of Technology, an academic institution training high-tech engineers and managers. He has two PhDs, from France in Algebraic Geometry, and from Israel in Non-Commutative Algebra. Noah is an active researcher in Mathematics and STEAM Education, domains in which he publishes regularly. His has special interest in Mathematics in a technology-rich environment and its influence in education, and in Mathematics and Culture. He is a member of the editorial board of several journals, chaired international conferences and special sessions, and is always happy with international collaborations.

Sara Hershkovitz retired from The Center for Educational Technology (CET) in Israel, after 4 decades. For 27 years (till 2017) she was head of the Mathematics Department and led the development of dozens of CET’s Math textbooks for primary and secondary schools, as well as the interactive digital content and digital textbooks, and the development of the online course in Math for high school, which is a part of CET’s Virtual High School (VHS). During 2017 to 2020, Prof. Hershkovitz was the head of the assessment and Evaluation Department, which was responsible for national and international exams in Israel and the research led by CET. She published books and research papers in the field of Problem Solving, Mathematics Education and SGTEAM Education. She is now the Head of the Mathematics Department at Levinsky Academic College in Tel Aviv.

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FEBRUARY  17th 2021, 3:00pm (GMT)

 

                 Martin Andre

Title: Integrating education for sustainable development into statistics classes

In my talk, I will discuss our work on introducing statistics concepts in schools and how statistics teaching can be connected to sustainable development with real data for students in schools. In particular, we will discuss that statistics is becoming crucial in our current data-driven society to explore numerous phenomena that are too complex to comprehend without exploring and visualising data. Citizens need to understand statistics about issues concerning essential parts of their lives such as the spread of a pandemic or climate change in order to responsibly participate in a prosperous development of our civilization. With our research projects we try to find out more about young students’ intuitive approaches to statistics when visually analysing data. We found that certain kinds of data visualisations are especially capable to provoke reasoning of statistical concepts such as ideas of centre, spread and covariation. Based on these intuitive visual approaches to statistics, another aspect of our design-based research projects is concerned with statistical modelling processes. We developed a learning trajectory where middle school students were engaged in analysing real-world data to explore sustainable development of various countries and to build a model for this phenomenon. Results show that students’ statistical investigative learning processes should feature active participation in constructing knowledge of formal statistical concepts; and students should adopt and fit their intuitive knowledge to formal concepts using methods of visual data analyses. Thus, I will outline some diverse opportunities to foster students’ intuitive understanding of statistics and sustainable development issues simultaneously.

 

Short bio

Dr Martin Andre is a senior lecturer and researcher in mathematics education at the University College of Teacher Education Tyrol, Austria. He has experience of teaching mathematics education to pre-service teachers and in-service teachers within primary, secondary, and post-graduate programs. His interests focus on the relationship between technology and mathematical thinking in statistics education, integration of digital technologies in the teaching of mathematics, and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). He is working on research projects related to integration of ESD into statistics education and technology integration into mathematics education.

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FEBRUARY  3RD 2021, 3:00pm (GMT)

                  Ebru Taylan

 

Title: How can we adapt agile mindset into science laboratory classes and research projects of students?

Both in high schools and higher education, laboratory applications are crucial to learn science better. While doing a project or an experiment in the lab, students are trying to learn and apply an information in a limited time and mostly working with teams. Due to this complexity, it comes harder to have a high efficiency. In this session, you will join my journey of experiences and find out some examples how we could apply problem based learning system or eduscrum in small or larger group of students.

 

Short bio

Ebru Taylan is the founder of Young Scientist Academy company which aims to contribute to the development of the scientific, practical, learning and questioning competencies of young people by bringing the sciences under the roof of Biotechnology easily and economically.

She completed her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry / Biotechnology department at Ege University in 2005. By working at Dokuz Eylul University (DEU) Research Laboratory for ten years, she completed her master and doctorate education in the Institute of Health Sciences, Dokuz Eylül University. During the course of her education, she worked as a research assistant in the Department of Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine. She took part in the laboratory applications of the students of the Faculty of Medicine during the experimental and reporting processes of numerous TÜB?TAK 1001, 1003 research projects including her doctoral thesis. She completed her research at the German Diabetes Center (DDZ) by receiving TÜB?TAK 2214a foreign research scholarship with a project she has undertaken in the last year of her doctorate.

In 2018, she worked as Associated Prof. at Izmir University of Economics, Department of Genetics and Bioengineering.

For the last three years, her company has been carrying out studies with the aim of enabling young people to develop science and technology at an earlier age to enable them to discover their potential and to become the preferred solution partner in educational institutions.

 

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JANUARY  27th 2021, 3:00pm (GMT)

 

           Nuno Escudeiro

 

Title: Mainstreaming Blended Mobility: tearing down barriers to international education

Blended mobility has an intrinsic aptitude to overcome most barriers to international mobility that our students might face. Such teaching methodologies significantly promote equity in internationalization of education.

This session raises awareness to blended mobility and provides the required inputs to set up and run blended mobility courses. We will follow a thrilling path through the Blended Education World aiming to foster the take-up of Blended Mobility as an effective way to promote international exposure during studies.

By the end of the session you will have all the information, the tools and the contacts you might need to setup and run your own blended mobility course from scratch.

 

Short bio

Nuno Escudeiro is a professor at the School of Engineering of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto, from the Informatics Department. He has been developing R&I work in two different areas, Engineering Education and Machine Learning.

Currently, Nuno Escudeiro assumes the following positions in the field of European Higher Education:

• Coordinator of the European University ATHENA
• Vice-President of the European Association of Erasmus Coordinators (EAEC)
• Vice-President of the European Association of Career Guidance (EACG)
• Blended-AIM blended mobility course coordinator
• Praxis network coordinator - European Center for Project / Internship Excellence
• Coordinator of the European Coordination Office Portuguese at EAEC
• Member of the advisory board of INNOTECS - International Network of Technical Schools
• Member of the advisory board of the Sector Skills Alliance EO4GEO

He completed his doctorate in Informatics Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto, a master's degree in Data Analysis and Decision Support Systems at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Porto and a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon.

 

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JANUARY  20th 2021, 3:00pm (GMT)

 

 

           Willy Wijnands

 

Title: Transforming Education with eduScrum

Short bio

As a passionate teacher, I want to give ownership and responsibility for their own learning process to the students and everyone I train. But most importantly, I give them trust and offer them the freedom and the space they need to work together in teams, while being there to facilitate and coach them. They become more independent from the teachers, and they have more fun. In addition to that, I want students to determine their own ‘why’ for their learning.

So they become empowered and responsible for what they do, because they are more engaged, committed. They are also more productive, create better results and discover who they are and what their abilities are through the development of their personality. Through this process they become more prepared for the future by becoming Agile lifelong learners with well-developed twenty-first-century skills. It is such a wonderful to see them developing themselves!

I want transform education with eduScrum. By training teachers, face to face and online, all over the world together with good passionate trainers, I support them to implement Agile in education.

I give the students ownership of their own learning process, but most important trust. The students take their responsibility for what they do and I give them liberty and space. The effect is that students are engaged, more productive and their results are better; It is such a wonderful to see them developing themselves!’

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JANUARY  13th 2021, 3:00pm (GMT)

           Jeff Sutherland

 

Title: Scrum@Scale Origins Story to an Education setting

Short bio

Jeff Sutherland, the inventor and Co-Creator of Scrum has worked with thousands of companies deploying Scrum and recently launched two global trainer programs for Scrum Inc Scrum Trainers and Certified Scrum@Scale Trainers in addition to creating two independent companies, Scrum Inc Japan and Scrum@Scale LLC.

Jeff started his career as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force where he achieved Top Gun status in 1967 and flew 100 combat missions over North Vietnam.

After 11 years as a pilot, he joined the faculty of the University of Colorado Medical School where he received his Doctoral degree. As Asst. Prof.of Radiology, Biometrics, and Preventive Medicine he co-founded the Center for Vitamins and Cancer Research under the sponsorship of Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling and for eight years was the Principle Investigator of a National Cancer Center research grant that ran all IT programs and research for the Colorado Regional Cancer Center.

In 1983 he joined a banking company that operated 150 banks throughout North America where he was VP of Advanced Systems and General Manager of their ATM Business Unit. Noticing that waterfall processes at the bank were not working, he implemented the first prototype of Scrum@Scale for organizational transformation of a business unit.

He has been VP of Engineering and CTO or CEO of eleven software companies. In the first four companies he prototyped Scrum and in 1993 in the fifth company created Scrum as we now see it used in 74% of Agile software companies in over 100 countries. He was a signatory of the Agile Manifesto in 2001.

In 2006, working as Senior Advisor to OpenView Venture Partners and their portfolio companies, Sutherland established his own company, Scrum, Inc. now recognized as the premiere source of Scrum Training in the world. His latest book, Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time," describes how he used his background and experience to create the most widely used Agile practice in industry today.

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JANUARY  6th 2021, 3:00pm (GMT)

 

           Zsolt Lavicza

 

Title: STEAM education approaches and technological innovations to foster creativities in STEM teaching and learning

Besides tackling challenges and disruptions caused by digital technologies in schools, there is also a growing emphasis for encouraging creative thinking in education, innovating pedagogies and develop connections among subjects. Activities focusing on creative processes, rather than concentrating on achieving only results for posed problems, are being designed and trialled by innovative groups around the world. In my talk, I will introduce ideas and examples for technological, pedagogical and policy innovations involving STEM to STE-A-M (by the inclusion of Arts in a broader sense of creation and creativities) transitions and how these approaches could be utilised to teach and connect mathematics with other subjects.  These examples will include STEAM research with mathematical foci from collaborating with the Experience Workshop Movement; studies related to GeoGebra and its new developments such as Augmented Reality, 3D Printing, Machine Learning and Mobile experiments; developing students’ mathematical skills through robotics and connecting digital and physical worlds; and possibilities to detect and nurture creative thinking processes from Big Data. An overview of such studies could offer new insights into developments of creativities, innovations for STEM teaching and learning, and opportunities for nurturing further collaboration in these areas.

 

Short bio

Professor Zsolt Lavicza (BA, BA, MS, MA, MPhil, PhD)

After receiving his degrees in mathematics and physics in Hungary, Zsolt began his postgraduate studies in applied mathematics at the University of Cincinnati. While teaching mathematics in Cincinnati he became interested in researching issues in the teaching and learning mathematics. In particular, he focused on investigating issues in relation to the use of technology in undergraduate mathematics education. Afterwards, both at the Universities of Michigan and Cambridge, he has worked on several research projects examining technology and mathematics teaching in a variety of classroom environments. In addition, Zsolt has greatly contributed to the development of the GeoGebra community and participated in developing research projects on GeoGebra and related technologies worldwide. Currently, Zsolt is a Professor in STEM Education Research Methods at Johannes Kepler University’s Linz School of Education. From JKU he is working on numerous research projects worldwide related to technology integration into schools; leading the doctoral programme in STEM Education at JKU; teaching educational research methods worldwide; and coordinates research projects within the International GeoGebra Institute.

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December 16th 2020, 3:00pm (GMT)

 

        Selay Arkun Kocadere

 

Title: Gamification: A Way to Add Fun in Learning

Although "gamification" dominates the headlines nowadays, there is a contradiction in terms. Therefore drawing the line between game and gamification will be a smooth beginning. Following the daily life examples of gamification, the instructional implementations will be shared and the transfer of the gameplay concept into classes will be discussed. The focus will be on practical tips for designing gamification for teaching.

Short bio

Selay Arkün Kocadere is an associate professor at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey. Following her bachelors’ degree in Mathematics Education, she received her M.Sc. and PhD in Computer Education and Instructional Technology. Dr. Kocadere worked as an instructional designer in the private sector before moving into academics. Interested in online learning, technology-enhanced mathematics education, mentoring, and educational games, Dr. Kocadere’s recent research focuses on gamification. “Educational Game Design”, and “Gamification in Education” are included in taught courses, in addition to IT in Education, Human-Computer Interaction, Distance Education. She managed two national and three international projects some of which are related to educational mobile games, and gamification. In addition to her ongoing projects and master courses on gamification, she sets up workshops and gives seminars about gamifying learning.

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December 9th 2020, 3:00pm (gmt)

 

          Philippe Longchamps

 

Title: Sustainable & Integrative Active Learning Methodologies: a Case for Holistic Teaching in Future-Making Education

When the evolution of technology and engineering is taught in an integrative fashion from an early age, it may literally be sowing seeds of creativity in students’ minds and provide an opportunity to teach using hands-on activities for a more sustainable learning experience. When new concepts related to Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) are integrated, adapting a transdisciplinary pedagogy together with an active learning approach, ideas that might have a considerable impact on our shared future can flourish in the students’ imagination. With examples provided from the methods I use at Bilingual Montessori School of Lund in Sweden, I will attempt to demonstrate how a variety of school subjects ought to be integrated chronologically to enhance the understanding of the creative process that led to inspiring technological evolutionary patterns. Endeavouring to demonstrate that by using a holistic approach while using 4DFrame and other materials, it is possible to stimulate analytical and creative thinking, but most importantly, to develop a deeper understanding about historical and technological concepts and their relationships to one another, while creating a stimulating transdisciplinary teaching and learning environment. Indeed, I will argue in this seminar that teachers can develop their students' interest for engineering while using a chronological historical narrative where technical innovation is at the heart of the evolution of civilization.

Keywords: 4DFrame, Active learning, Engineering, History, Technology, Pedagogy, Convergence, Creativity, Sustainability

 

Short bio

Philippe Longchamps is the overseas Director of the ISAS, Teacher of the Year in Sweden 2020, and Head of Department at Bilingual Montessori School of Lund

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November 25th 2020, 3:00pm (GMT)

 

          Hana Siddiquee

Title: What is Agile and can it help improve student engagement in higher education?

We will be discussing the following:

• What is Agile Education and where can we use it?

• What are your strategies to engage students in learning?

• Why are Agile strategies vital for Higher Education Institutions?

 

Short bio

Prof. Hana Siddiquee is the founder of Agile in Education USA and President at Bohnishikha. She's a pioneer in the usage of Agile in Education, Scrum, eduScrum, and L-EAf in higher education in the USA. She has implemented Agile methods into more than 15 graduate and undergraduate courses. She is a business faculty and a program developer with over ten years of teaching experience. She's conducting research in Agile Scrum in Higher Education, eduScrum in Higher Education, Experiential team building with Scrum, Women in Agile Leadership, and Poverty Alleviation with Innovative educational programs. 

 

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