First-year students of the Pedagogy program in Basic General Education at La Serena University organized the first “Mathematics Fair: the magic of numbers” at the Japan School in the same commune.

The activity is part of the Didactics for Teaching Patterns and Algebra subject, and consisted of a sample of teaching materials and learning activities prepared throughout the semester.

During the morning, different classes from the Japan School were able to attend and participate in the puzzles and challenges designed by the future teachers.

According to the subject's teacher, Dr. Daniela Olivares, “the activity is the final milestone that gives meaning to what has been worked on during the semester. It allows future teachers to learn to design situations for real contexts and anticipate the reasoning that children might put into play. In addition, two important standards of the graduation profile are worked on: showing disciplinary-didactic mastery and applying relevant resources for the development of skills.”

The materials used were created by the students themselves in the context of the PROFID project “Strengthening the disciplinary training of PEGB students in the use of didactic resources for teaching Language and Mathematics.”

On the other hand, the choice of Colegio Japan lies in the collaboration that has been established between both institutions, in addition to the vocation for public education of which the program is responsible.

Luzmira Leiva, technical head of the establishment, commented: “this exhibition, with so much pedagogical sense, allowed the children to demonstrate their learning in a fun way. It is an entertaining learning. We thank you for this beautiful activity carried out by the students of the university.”

For her part, teacher Jennifer Tapia, head teacher of 1°B, pointed out that “this teaching experience was very interesting for the children. They were entertained, willing to learn and motivated. The future teachers showed themselves to be versatile and dynamic. It is clear that they know many strategies, have prepared very well and enjoy what they do. We thank you for the experience you gave us today, and I hope it happens more often.”

The student teachers also reflected on what they learned through the preparation and implementation of the fair. In this regard, Génesis Ahumada indicated: “I think that this activity contributed, above all, to discovering the different ways of learning that students have. Each one solved the exercises we proposed in their own way, and they always came to a solution. I was also able to realize the diversity of students that exist, and how to adapt teaching to that diversity.” 

Written by Claudia Farías, Faculty of Humanities