International learning to enhance problem solving in maths

As lead partner in the project, CSSC works alongside two local controlled schools as well as a four international institutions with a range of expertise.

The two year project, which has received €140,000 funding from Erasmus+, focuses on teaching problem solving in technology-rich environments and will conclude with an international conference in Northern Ireland in August 2019.

Establishing the right project team is crucial to the success of the project. Each of the project partners where chosen based on their expertise.

The two local controlled schools involved in the project are Bangor Academy and Sixth Form College and Kilcooley Primary School. The Academy has a large mathematics department with teachers who are keen to embed new evidence-based approaches into their daily practice. Kilcooley Primary School is a 'Centre of Excellence' in interactive whiteboard skills. IPad technology has been developed throughout the school.

The international partners were selected from a range of countries with good maths outcomes in PISA 2012:

• Learning Link Scotland – an organisation with expertise in adult education, including policy formulation and quality improvement

• Trinity College Dublin – the College has recently been involved with the new mathematics syllabus (commonly known as Project Maths) which emphasises using problem-solving approaches

• University College Capital (UCC) - one of Denmark’s main providers of teacher education, UCC adopts a cross-disciplinary approach to learning, uses modern technology in the classroom, and works specifically with research-based knowledge that reflects on and interacts with practice

• Vamia – based in Finland, Vamia is a multi-disciplinary vocational institution and is dedicated to actively developing new learning environments and material by using ICT and mobile devices

Each of the partners have the opportunity to share and learn from best practice, original policies and effective initiatives in other countries.

Research-based professional learning

All of the events and activities provided though the Erasmus+ project will allow for research-based professional learning. The overarching aim is to build the capacity and confidence of teachers when teaching problem-solving in mathematics in technology rich environments.

So far, participants have explored problem-solving approaches and learned about using GeoGebra (an interactive geometry, algebra, statistics and calculus application) and other technologies to enrich problem-solving.

Disseminating learning

The project team review their progress against the work plan and the intellectual outputs that the project will deliver.

The project will finish with an international conference which will disseminate the learning from the project to delegates from the participating partner conferences.

The conference will be held in Northern Ireland on 20 August 2019.

Invitations to attend will be issued in Spring 2019.

21 February 2019