Abstract as per original application
(English/Chinese): |
Competence in early mathematics is crucial for later school success. Although research indicates that a spatial and hands-on approach to learning improves student engagement and mathematics skills for young learners, such approach has been difficult to implement in mathematics education, especially in Hong Kong, partly due to the culture of drilling and recalling procedures by manipulation of abstract symbols on paper. In contrast, Making draws upon the innately human desire to make things with our hands. One important application of Making in education is a spatial and hands-on approach to learning which also has implications for meeting the global needs for expertise in the Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Despite its significance, few research has examined the effects of Making in education, including how Making may effectively support technology-enhanced mathematics and/or STEM learning.
This study builds on the PI’s previously developed notion of ‘learning as Making’ (LaM) to examine mathematics learning in a highly transformative and technological Making environment; it involves the use of 3D Printing Pens which enables 3D models to be created instantly via one’s moving hand. Within this particular LaM environment, students are engaged in inquiry-based learning through hands-on production of 3D-printed artefacts, which serve as both diagrams (processes) and products of learning. LaM aligns with emerging theoretical developments on gestures, embodiment and materialist perspectives of thinking and learning. The PI has conducted relevant empirical studies, pointing towards the rich mathematics learning with LaM in primary schools.
This design-based research explores the effect of a LaM pedagogy in mathematics education through designing and implementing twelve teaching experiments in six Hong Kong primary schools. In this mix-method study, (1) students’ development of visualisation, generalisation, and problem solving in mathematics will be analysed statistically using pre- and post-test measures, and (2) students’ inquiry-based Making during the lessons and post-lesson interviews will be captured via video-recording, after which discourse and micro-genetic analyses will examine students’ learning and sense-making processes with 3D Printing Pens.
This study fills the research gap with regard to the changing nature of knowledge, learning and pedagogy in the digital age, in that it will advance the educational potential of 3D printing technology and LaM in school mathematics in particular and STEM education in general. Its findings will contribute to teaching and learning abstract mathematical and/or STEM concepts in hands-on, technological, and innovation-oriented environments. More broadly, it will contribute to speculation on the future potential of emergent technologies in education and LaM curricula.
早期數學基礎對於成就以後學習至關重要。儘管研究指出，空間感訓練以及實踐式學習有助於年幼學生的數學參與度和數學技能的培養，但這些學習方法在數學教育中很難實施，特別是在香港。部分原因在於香港數學教育文化偏向重視以抽象化的數學符號進行反覆練習和運算。相比之下，「造」則迎合人類以雙手創新的天性和對製造的好奇。尤其在教學中，「造」強調空間感訓練以及實踐式學習，這同時迎合到國際間對科學（Science）、技術（Technology）、工程（Engineering）及數學（簡稱STEM）學科專業知識的需求。儘管其意義重大，但少有研究考察過「造」對教育的影響，例如「造」能如何有效支援數學及STEM的科技增進學習。
是次研究建基於研究員先前研發的「造中學」（Learning as Making）概念，以探討在創新、製造、和技術化的環境中學習數學。這其中涉及3D打印筆的應用，讓參與者能即時創建3D模型並進行探究式學習。「造中學」與手勢學、具身化認知、新物質主義等新興理論保持一致。研究員曾進行相關的實驗研究，顯示「造中學」能豐富小學數學學習。
此設計本位研究將在香港六所小學中設計並實行十二個教學實驗，從而探討「造中學」教學法對數學教育的影響。本次的混合研究中，數據的收集和分析包括：學生在數學中形象化、歸納和解難方面的發展，學生在課堂中探究「造」的過程，以及課後訪談，並從對話及微觀發生法的分析中探討學生用3D打印筆時的學習和意義建構過程。
這項研究增加了對數碼時代中日新月異的知識、學習和教學的研究，從而提升3D打印技術和「造中學」兩者在學校中，特別是數學，以至是STEM教育中的教育潛力。其研究結果將有助於在實踐式學習、技術和創新導向的環境中數學及STEM相關概念的教育和學習。更廣泛而論，研究結果將有助預測未來新興科技在教學和「造中學」課程中的潛力。
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