The Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM) and the Center for Advanced Research in Education (CIAE) of the University of Chile, together with the Renata Foundation, launched a project that seeks students of the first cycle of primary school to develop problem solving in Mathematics by connecting this skill with the emotion produced by fun characters that appear in these stories.
The ‘Renata and the problems’ initiative developed by ARPA seeks to influence the classroom through interventions in which the main characters of the series live the problems. This facilitates an identification with the students who solve the problem. During the year, several interventions will be held in primary schools. There, Renata will offer workshops that will be remarkable experiences with the ability to solve problems for the attendants. The experience is a possibility to glimpse a different way of seeing mathematics in the real world.
“It’s exciting for us all to solve problems. We like challenges and share with others how to solve these troubles. That feeling we want to live in these activities,” explained Patricio Felmer, a researcher at CMM and the CIAE.
The mathematician has been working on the ability to solve problems in Mathematics courses for several years through ‘Activating the Problem Solving in the Classroom’ (ARPA), an initiative that he has been leading since 2014. Different reports consider this skill is crucial in the society of knowledge of the 21st century. It is also compulsory in the school curriculum in Chile. At present, almost seven thousand professors from all over the country have attended the courses organized by Felmer and 218 schools have worked with ARPA.
In parallel, Andrea Cordones has been working on the creation of animated TV shows to promote a positive attitude towards the Mathematics learning from Fundación Renata. This concept led her to be awarded a fund from the National Television Council that allowed her to air the first season of Renata and Mathematics at Mega channel some years ago. The saga is played by a girl who hates this subject. However, together with her friends, she will learn how useful it is for everyday life. Later, Andrea Cordones published an album and ten video clips with songs about the multiplication tables. Lately, she has been working with Crea +, a corporation that implements Mathematics programs in three regions. “I was happy with what we had achieved, but I wanted to give it more academic support. to the project”.
In that search, a friend introduced him to Patricio Felmer. Next, they began working together a year ago in this new experimental project that mixes narrative techniques and character creation with mathematics aiming that everyone can develop the skill through problems played by Renata and her friends.
“We want to relate the resolution of problems with a positive, stimulating experience that challenges you, but where children are reflected in a protagonist,” explained Cordones.
Two actions have already been confirmed: on Friday, September 28th, in Rengo, where the aim is to decentralize this way of learning mathematics, and on Saturday, October 20th, during the Engineering and Science Festival of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of Universidad de Chile, where attendants will solve problems in family.
The project also has a pillar in social networks. It will use platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and others to raise mathematical dilemmas in multimedia formats where children, parents, and teachers can interact online, work in groups and talk about different ways of reasoning to arrive at one or several solutions.
