According to the latest PISA Report, Spanish students score below the OECD average. Special attention should be paid to the Science section, where pupils obtained the worst score in the historical series, and Mathematics, where there is clear stagnation. This working proposal on Mathematical Competence is intended primarily to secure the best possible neurodevelopmental skills in Mathematics for all students, regardless of their socio-economic and cultural environment and their origin.
We refer to the Mathematics Solution iteNlearning, a proposal aimed at students between 8 and 12 years of age, regardless of their geographical area, since the initiative is not linked to the curriculum of any territory, but to neurodevelopmental skills in mathematics. It is therefore a universal approach which can be applied in any territory of the world.
One of its key elements is that all iteNlearning work is based on scientific evidence. In numeracy and calculus, the research consensus is followed, focusing on the Model of calculus and numeracy put forward by McCloskey, Caramazza and Basili, among others.
They propose a technological model in which the following components or cognitive processes are developed:
1.Number processing system
Divided into:
- A comprehension subsystem that allows differentiation between the processing of the Arabic code in its lexical (digit) and syntactic (location of the digit in the digit string) dimensions and the processing of the Verbal code, in its oral (phonological) and written (graphemic) modes, with a common syntactic system.
- A production subsystem with a similar differentiation.
2.A calculation system
Divided into:
- A subsystem for mental calculation
- A subsystem for algorithmic calculation.
Both include the ability to understand mathematical signs, access to basic arithmetic results or facts (tables, elementary sums) and mastery of algorithms for basic operations. This will contribute to a new educational approach whose priority is to bring the world of Neuroscience closer to the school, and which can be described as ‘brain-based education’.
The Professional Educational Instruments (PEI) used are the result of the convergence between Cognitive Sciences (studying how the brain learns) and Information Technologies. They allow validated educational standards to apply to existing educational environments, thereby achieving improved learning outcomes. They have five essential characteristics:
- Scientific evidence. They are based on Cognitive Science, which studies how the brain learns. These include cognitive psychology, linguistics, anthropology, epistemology and, as a validator, neuroscience. Research has determined the milestones and key moments that take place in students’ neurodevelopment. These milestones and moments are the basis of what we call the “frame of reference” for education.
- Validation. The Professional Educational Instruments of iteNlearning developed on the basis of scientific evidence have been validated through their implementation in school environments. Their use in more than 100,000 students has shown an improvement in the results they produced.
- Adaptive learning. In three levels (developed later):
- During student interaction: learning from error.
- In the learning process: memory curves.
- With personalised plans. Respecting each student’s process.
- Gamified meta-cognition. There can be no real learning if students are not aware of their own progress. For this purpose, the dynamics of video games are the best tool
- Learning analysis. Teachers have clear information on each student’s progress and can assess the level of neurodevelopment of each student through reports with different levels of aggregation.
IteNlearning solution for EducarEx
Another crucial factor in iteNlearning is teacher training. Implementation of the proposal must be accompanied by initial teacher training so that they can make better use of the project’s tools. A complete set of digital training material is made available to the participating education community which, as well as offering initial guidelines for starting up the initiative in a specific context, looks in depth at the possibilities of intervention from three profiles that are crucial in any educational proposal: students, teachers and families. In addition to online training, iteNlearning organises classroom-based training.
As mentioned above, iteNlearning makes use of adaptive learning. This type of learning takes place at three different and complementary levels working in a coordinated and simultaneous way, each enhancing the other. They are as follows:
1. Level 1 adaptive learning: processing error.
This is a fundamental point. Students should be given real time information that will help them solve the specific mistake made. For this purpose, iteNlearning has developed Artificial Intelligence based on expert systems specialised in Mathematics teaching.
This is an absolutely unique technology in the sector, which allows students to have a “smart tutor” by their side at all times, acting as a guide to students’ learning, giving them appropriate feedback.
2. Adaptive learning Level 2: learning and memory curves.
Each student has their own pace, and the iteNlearning system allows you to get to know that pace and work with it. This applies not only to the learning process, but also to memory. For example, certain content will be presented again after an optimal time to consolidate long-term memory and permanent learning.
Each student work session is individually optimised, incorporating various types of activities in the right proportion at each given time:
- Activities carried out for the first time. To expand the students’ knowledge base.
- Activities that had previously been presented and were poorly resolved. To give students a chance to recover and overcome their past error.
- Activities that had previously been presented and were well resolved. To consolidate learning and long-term memory.
- Meta-cognition activities. As one of the best strategies to ensure quality learning.
3.Level 3 adaptive learning: smart content selection.
Level 3 of Adaptive Learning corresponds to the recursive personalised plan after a diagnostic assessment. The content is selected according to the student’s needs. This represents the utmost possible optimisation of teaching and learning process, and from iteNlearning its use is recommended over and above the standard didactic units.
Finally, in iteNlearning the impact of a project is measured on the basis of three complementary parameters:
- Use of the solution. Measured against other solutions and digital resources.
- Satisfaction of teachers, students and families. Measured by means of specific instruments for this purpose.
- Improvement of student results. Measured through an appropriate research methodology.
Regarding the last point, the solution has a tool for the diagnostic assessment of students’ mathematical skills, in addition to the personalised work plan devised for each of them. This plan is recursive and proposes a continuous and permanent assessment, so it is constantly reconfigured according to student performance. It is produced in the student’s own work environment, generating a learning analysis based on the neurodevelopmental grasp of Mathematics, which can then be reviewed by teachers in reports of various kinds.
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