Despite the Corona crisis, we look forward to working with students to gain exciting insights into extracurricular learning, the use of digital media and the use of MathCityMap.
In this video, student teachers of the Goethe University Frankfurt explain what they expect from our MathCityMap seminar in the summer semester 2020.
After launching our new web portal three weeks ago, we now celebrate our new MathCityMap App Update! In the following we present the new features:
New features:
The new app version can be downloaded here for Android (Google Play Store) or here for Apple iOS. We hope you enjoy the new functions!
The MathCityMap idea:
With the MathCityMap app, students, teachers and individuals can rediscover their own environment from a mathematical perspective: Mathematical hiking trails, so-called maths trails, can be followed all over the world with the help of the MathCityMap App. After all, there are a multitude of mathematically interesting objects everywhere!
MathCityMap combines the editing of mathtrails with the possibilities of modern technologies such as GPS localization for orientation purposes, a support system through stepped hints and a feedback system. Mathtrails, once downloaded, can also be used in offline mode. The app is available in eleven different languages, including German, English, Spanish, Italian and French.
On our website you can become active yourself after a free registration and create your own tasks and mathtrails.
Webportal & App are developed by the working group MATIS 1 at the Institute for Didactics of Mathematics and Computer Science at the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. Due to funding within the framework of the Erasmus+ projects MoMaTrE and MaSCE³ we can provide the app free of charge and free of advertising as well as conforming to data protection regulations.
On the 18th and 19th of May we conducted our technical meeting of the MaSCE³ project. Unfortunately, due to the restrictions about personal contacts and international travelling, we had to more our meeting into the virtual space.
Apart from the MathCityMap team from Goethe University Frankfurt, our project partners from the universities of Lyon (France), Tallinn (Estonia) and the university of applied Sciences Offenburg (Baden-Wuerttemberg) also took part. Furthermore, we were actively supported by representatives of the the Berlin app developer from autentek.
The development of the digital classroom as one of the intellectual outputs of the MaSCE³ project is nearly finished. The digital classroom provides the teachers with the possibility to create a time wise limited learning environment for their students. Apart from the e-portfolio, where all of the during the conduction of a math trail occurring events are stored and displayed, the chat functionality proofed to be a very useful tool for teachers. Especially during the corona crises and therefore the spatial separation of teachers and students, the digital classroom was often used for MathCityMap@home.
During the group works, we discussed the next steps of implementing also augmented elements into the MathCityMap system, as well as to define new task formats. By using augmented elemtns, it would be possible to pose completely new tasks and create problems for a variety of mathematical topics. For example, it could be possible for the teacher to attach virtual information to a real object. The students can discover and use that information by scanning the environment of the object with the camera of their smartphone inside the MathCityMap app. Furthermore, we also want to implement subtasks as a new format for tasks. Using subtasks, it would be possible to structure complex tasks and divide them into smaller, easier to solve problems. The students could then verify their solutions step by step.
The mandatory mathtrail had to be postponed. However, we hope to have soon the possibility to meet again face-to-face and will of course run again a mathtrail together!
We would like to thank all partners for the productive project meeting!
The current task of the week is located in Lichtenfels, Germany. In this Franconian town the teacher Jörg Hartmann created the task “Der schöpfende Dümpfelschöpfer“ [engl. “The scooping ‘Dümpfelschöpfer’”] and answered several questions about it.
How did you get in contact with the MathCityMap project?
I first discovered the MathCityMap idea through a teacher training by Matthias Ludwig, head of the MCM team Frankfurt. During a project week at my school, the Meranier-Gymnasium in Lichtenfels, I offered a course on MCM trails.
Supported by six students of the nineth to the eleventh grade I created the math trail “Bergauf und Bergab, über Stock und Stein in Lichtenfels” [engl. “Uphill and downhill, over rough and smooth in Lichtenfels”], which contains the tasks “Der schöpfende Dümpfelschöpfer“. Subsequently I worked several times with different classes on the trail. A preparation of 20 minutes is suitable for this; the pupils then run the trail for two or three school lessons. The joy of the pupils is enormous, while the pupils experience mathematics in the open air – and the pupils learn an amazing amount.
Please describe your task. How can it be solved?
The famous sculpture in Lichtenfels, the so-called “Dümpfelschöpfer”, represent a man scooping water from an irregularly shaped pool. In the task I ask how often the man have to scope until the pool is empty. To solve the task, the students have to divide the problem into smaller subtasks, e.g. what the volume of the pool is or how units can be converted.
Which didactic goals do you want to promote?
I would like to encourage students which work on the math trail to perceive their environment from a mathematical perspective as well as to recognize the connection of school math and the real world. They might ask themselves which mathematical object has a similar shape to the bucket and how to convert a volume in m³ in litres.
Furthermore, I want students to do mental arithmetic and make rough estimation. By working on this task, they should realise how useful rough calculation is in everyday life.
Do you have any further commentary of MathCityMap?
I am enthusiastic about the idea of outdoor mathematics, and my students really enjoy to run a math trail. A lot of mathematical creativity is required to create a math trail. To be honest, at school the time to foster students’ mathematical creativity is limited – unfortunately I think the creation of a trail together with students is only possible during a project week.
Overall, the MathCityMap project is great! I really hope that some other users create trails around Lichtenfels, because I would definitely enjoy working on a “foreign” trail to get new ideas for math trail tasks.
Like we announced last week, the new web portal 2.0 has been online since yesterday. It improves many existing features and looks stylish as well. The new design builds on the so-called Material Design by Google and allows for a flawless operation on all kinds of devices (computers, tablets and smartphones).
An overview about the 11 most important changes:
Further Changes:
Found a bug?
Just email info@mathcitymap.eu!
We are looking forward to your questions, suggestions and comments.
Adi Cahyono, our MCM Educator of Indonesia, and Matthias Ludwig, head of the MCM Team Frankfurt, present how an augmented reality mobile math trails program can provide opportunities for students to engage in meaningful mathematical modelling activities. Therefore, an explorative study was conducted involving two mathematics teachers and 30 eight grades in Semarang, Indonesia. The students worked on several math trail tasks using an Augmented Reality Mobile Math Trails App, which was specifically created for this study.
The findings indicate that a mobile app with augmented reality features is helpful for students as a tool that bridges the gap between real-world situations and mathematical concepts in problem-solving following the mathematical modelling cycle.
The article „Learning mathematical Modelling with Augmented Reality Mobile Math Trails Program: How can it work?” was published in the Journal on Mathematics Education. The full text is available online here. The cover pictures are taken from this article.
At the YESS10 conference last week, Simon presented his upcoming study about students’ learning progress using the MathCityMap app. Of course, the YESS10 (YERME Summer School) took place online.
The MathCityMap idea was enthusiastically received by the participants of the conference. For example, the Israeli High-school Math teacher and researcher Eli Netzer, who analyzes Hebrew educational video (Link to Eli’s website), gave us this feedback:
I believe that MathCityMap is a valuable project for extracurricular mathematics learning. The project affords profound mathematical learning since it is based on three strong aspects: social, mobile and real mathematics learning.
I am looking forward to using the project site with my students, explore and add new mathematical interesting tasks and Math trails in the Tel-Aviv city.
In addition, Eli created this really cool illustration about the theoretical framwork of MathCityMap (left picture).
The usage of MathCityMap math trails is well-tested for the revision of various learned topics. However, math trails can also be used – as so-called Theme-based Trails – for the aimed work on one specific curricular topic.
Possible topics are proportion, fractions, linear functions, parabolas and quadratic functions as well as the intercept theorem. Click here to see an example for a Theme-based Trail about stereometry.
Theme-based Trails could be used for learning mathematics at home during the Corona breakdown: According to the motto MCM@Home, we prepared several trails in five languages which could be solved from home [click here to see all MCM@Home trails]. Two of them deal with only one topic. In other words, our MathCityMap team created two Theme-based Trails for MCM@Home. One is about linear functions and suitable for 8th graders. The other one treats quadratic functions and could be solved by 9th grade students. We also created Theme-based Trails for students from grade 3 up to grade 6 which deal with sequences & series as well as basical combinatorics.
Have fun by working on our Theme-based Trails!
During the Corona crisis, exponential curves, e.g. infection rates, are presented daily in the media. Therefore, we want to show you one – very pleasing – exponential development about our MathCityMap system:
In April 2017, MathCityMap had around 300 registered Users, 1.000 tasks were created in the web portal. One year later MathCityMap provided 3.200 tasks for the 1.200 Users. In spring 2019, the MCM community already consisted of 2.700 users, who created 7.200 MathCityMap tasks.
Today MathCityMap has ca. 4.600 registered users. In total, 12.800 tasks and 2.050 math trails were created in many different languages all over the world. Our MCM video is now available in nine (!) different languages (click here to see the YouTube playlist).
Dear user,
MathCityMap owes this fantastic development in recent years to your interest and creativity. In the current situation, we are happy to see the creation of numerous MCM@Home tasks and trails. After the crisis, we are looking forward to many mathematical outdoor tasks.
We wish you and your families all the best. Stay healthy!
Your MathCityMap team
How learning can be organized in Europe during the Corona crisis, is one urgent question in these days.
MathCityMap provides several MCM@Home-Trails in different languages. Students can work on them at home. As usual, the learners get hints and can compare their own solution with a sample solution. The possibility to get both support and an immediate feedback, can structure students’ learning progress at home.
In the last days, those potentials of MathCityMap for learning at home were highlighted by the German institution Pädagogischer Austauschdienst (PAD) and by the initiative Land of Ideas. The first-mentioned PAD lists here several Erasmus+ projects which supply Open Educational Resources. According to the motto #beyondcrisis, the Land of Ideas promotes diverse projects which can help to handle the Corona crises.
Stay healthy!
Background information:
MathCityMap is very proud to be an award winners of the competion Land of Ideas 2019.
