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Hanna Kinnari-Korpela1, Ion Mierlus-Mazilu2, Kirsi-Maria Rinneheimo1, César Benavente Peces3
1Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Finland
2Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, Romania
3Technical University of Madrid, Spain
Mathematical skills are a prerequisite in technical studies and mathematics lay the basis for understanding different engineering disciplines. Unfortunately, various studies have shown that mathematical competence in Europe has weakened in recent decades. The weakened mathematics skills, large and heterogeneous study groups and decreasing resources have been problems encountered especially in engineering studies during the past decades.
Nowadays students expect more digital learning possibilities and utilizations of ubiquitous technologies and devices in mathematics' studies. This is a very natural drift as the whole of society is changing through the use of social media and new ICT (information and communication technologies). Big data, open data, cloud services, digitalization, IoT etc. affect society and social activities on a large scale. As working life is constantly changing, its expectations and requirements have become more diverse. The 21st century skills, such as collective thinking, collaboration, creativity and shared problem solving skills are key components in modern working life and therefore the university teaching and learning should also train these skills.
The European Union has as its stated ambition the goal of 40 % of all young people having graduated from higher education by 2020. In the Agenda for the Modernisation of Higher Education, it was stated that to achieve this goal the focus will be on the quality of teaching and learning. [1]
Three year project FutureMath, funded by the EU and started on September 2015, aims to develop methods to better exploit the ICT in engineering mathematics teaching and learning. Project’s main focus is to improve innovative ways of learning and teaching of mathematics through digital contents and with the help of technologies.
The project will combine best practices for meaningful utilization of e.g. ICT-tools, learning environments, social media and mathematical software in mathematics learning and teaching context. Furthermore, a theoretical research carried in the field of mathematics online pedagogy during the project is supposed to provide a collection of pedagogical approaches, best practices and useful resources for designing and implementing web-based teaching and learning of mathematics.
A Mathematics Learning Platform (MLP) will be created in the project. MLP is a comprehensive framework for mathematics learning and teaching in web (versatile repository) and it will bring together technological innovations and best practices for mathematics learning.
One key output of the project is Mathematics Learning Resources (MLRs) such as e.g. short video lectures, podcasts, vodcasts, personalized learning materials, lecture materials, online learning materials, online assessment components, authentic learning modules, online resources for learning etc. [2] Thus the MLRs encapsulates a vast variety of ICT based learning and teaching resources.
REFERENCES
[1] Report to the European commission, Modernisation of Higher Education, 2013. http://ec.europa.eu/education/library/reports/modernisation_en.pdf
[2] SEFI MWG, A Framework for Mathematics Curricula in Engineering Education, 2013.