Goals
This project addresses students aged 15-17. The basic goal is to engage them in activities which will motivate them to learn through interaction within the context of real - life situations. Maths, History, Science and Geometry can be found everywhere around us. The students, therefore, will be asked to find examples of what they are studying in their school classrooms and apply their existing knowledge in a variety of tasks so as to transfer learning into the real world.
More specifically the proposed project has the following goals:
Teach students mathematical and geometrical functions that are relevant to the school curriculum but may be enriched with new information that will allow them to tackle practical problems (e.g. calculate the area and reconstruct the pattern of a mosaic).
Motivate students to think critically, develop their research skills and their spirit of team work and substantial collaboration.
Promote ‘learning how to learn’, student autonomy (e.g. setting and keeping deadlines) and learning strategies such as retrieving existing knowledge and applying it to new contexts.
Encourage students to open up towards their local community (authorities, museums, libraries).
Use Technology to search for and share information, communicate, present and disseminate their work.
Develop the students’ media literacy (critical analysis, cross-referencing, judging the credibility of sources).
Employ a cross-curricular approach that will encourage deep, well-rounded learning (the history of a building, calculation of its area, identification of sections that exhibit symmetry, investigation for application of the Golden section).
Familiarization of students with their partners' cultural and linguistic diversity (e.g. similarities and differences in the school curriculum of the subjects involved, learning about the history and architectural styles of other places).
Practice the English language and boost the students’ confidence in its use in authentic contexts.
Procedure
The teachers establish a common ground and decide on the tasks and the timeline of the project. The communication will take place using a variety of tools (e-mail, video-conferencing on Twin Space) at frequent intervals to provide feedback and make necessary adjustments.
The student groups become acquainted through a videoconference and a series of presentations informing their partners about themselves, their schools, countries and the way subjects are taught at their schools. Through brainstorming and negotiation they may add new areas of interest as long as they are compatible with the goals of the project. Since the project will take the form of a treasure hunt, each team may find a name and a symbol.
All the teams-partners will be working on the same topic and their work will be presented on Twin Space on the deadlines set. Some of the tasks will require a collaborative approach while in each module there will be a treasure-hunt announced with the teams having to work out the answer. The faster one, wins.
The proposed modules involve: a)locating, identifying and reproducing local mosaics exhibiting geometric patterns. Searching their history. b)Local buildings and structures exhibiting notable geometric/mathematical features (Golden section, innovative geometric shapes). c) Math facts (π Day), customs and maths (geometry and the custom of the kite).
Each ‘module’ is expected to last a month approximately.
Final products
Creation of a public Twin Space where students present all their work. A digital map with all the locations which the students use to complete the tasks (e.g the local museum where students discovered mosaics). Geogebra files where students reconstruct the patterns and structures they have come across throughout the project. An edition containing all the information gathered by the students which will be offered to a public authority like the local library or museum so that the project will be disseminated all through the local community. Online quizzes with fun math facts coming from the students' work throughout the project..