HR4RS stamp
Irene Vega
On May 12, the celebration of the School Day of Mathematics takes place. This anniversary has encouraged the promoter teachers of the initiative, Juan Carlos Aguado and Beatriz García, to organize a day with workshops on 'mathemagic' and mathematical games. “Our goal is to bring students closer to mathematics in a different way. As the experts in neurodidactics explain, the brain needs to be excited to learn and in our previous experiences we have verified in this sense a great interest of the attendees to our workshops, especially when we pose challenges, riddles or perform magic tricks that have a mathematical background. ”, says Juan Carlos Aguado, professor of Fundamentals of Economic Analysis and magician.
With these activities, based on motivation and attention, the teachers intend to improve the learning processes of the students. The workshops will be mainly aimed at 3rd and 4th years of ESO and two sessions will be held in the morning on Friday, May 18, at the Madrid Campus of the URJC. The registration for schools and institutes are now open.
The dissemination activity in the field of mathematics and economics has led these FCJS professors to participate in numerous editions of the Science Week, the European Researchers' Night, Pint of Science, pi days or SIMO education. In addition, they have carried out their workshops on mathematical games and the magic of the Economy before thousands of spectators and in different municipalities of the Spanish geography, such as Madrid, Fuenlabrada, Móstoles, Guadalajara, Aranjuez, Alcalá de Henares or Palma de Mallorca. His initiative to celebrate the School Day of Mathematics has had the support of the Scientific Culture and Innovation Unit, dependent on the Vice President for Research.
Didactics of Mathematics in Spain
The year 2000 was declared the World Year of Mathematics by UNESCO. As a result of this celebration, the Spanish Federation of Societies of Teachers of Mathematics (FESPM) commemorates every May 12 the School Day of Mathematics, a date that coincides with the birth of the mathematician Pedro Puig Adam (May 12, 1900). This scientist was the initiator of the teaching of mathematics in Spain and made a large number of novel contributions in this field. Among his works, the 'Decalogue of Middle Mathematical Didactics' stands out, which includes his opinions and suggestions on the teaching of this subject in secondary schools.