Educational robotics and primary school mathematics teaching: An analysis of pre-service teachers didactic-mathematical knowledge

Abstract

The scarcity of studies dedicated to the integration of educational robotics (ER) in teaching mathematical content, and the discomfort of teachers when integrating ER in their teaching practices make it pertinent to understand the development of the didactic knowledge of mathematics necessary to integrate ER in mathematics teaching practices during initial teacher training. This qualitative and interpretive study identifies the knowledge of the didactic dimension from the didactic-mathematical knowledge conceptual framework that is mobilized by pre-service teachers (PST) during the implementation of mathematical tasks that integrate ER during the practicum. Through content analysis of the data collected on the PST’s performance, we mapped the occurrence and co-occurrence based on the components of the didactic suitability criteria. From the results, we highlight: (i) the existence of a relationship between the mathematical knowledge needed to teach, knowledge of the mathematics curriculum, and knowledge of ER and how its integration in the teaching process can influence the learning process and (ii) the positive contribution of the implementation in the practicum of mathematical tasks that promote robot manipulation/programming at the same time as the exploration of the mathematical content for the development of the participants’ didactic knowledge of mathematics. A practical implication of our results is that these features should be part of future work dedicated to integrating ER in mathematics teaching practices of PST, aiming to assess their value in initial teacher training programs.