Transforming the Mathematics Class Through a Research Methodology

Abstract

The teaching of the mathematics program from the Universidad Estatal a Distancia of Costa Rica (UNED) opened its “Licenciatura” in Mathematics Teaching in 2014, focusing mainly on the production of didactic material. During this period, it has been pretty evident the difficulties students have had to face in order to develop their final work to be able to graduate (TFG), by its acronym in Spanish. Due to this situation, they presented some deficiencies at the time of constructing the sections in the final investigation project. In regard to this problem, the program counted only with a didactic material written as a didactic resource. As a result of that and taking into consideration the “Modelo Pedagógico de la UNED” (Pedagogical Model from UNED), it emerges a need of designing a multimedia resource that complements the written material and at the same time that is able to respond to the students needs. In this manner, a multidisciplinary team was formed; thus, the multimedia program was designed, its name is “Transformando la clase de matemática, una metodología de investigación.” (Transforming the mathematics class, a research methodology). Not only academic but also administrative aspects were taken into consideration, resulting in a resource of important help for students and of high technical quality.