Background

It is indisputable that mathematics are a global cultural heritage which all countries try to educate their children. In order to manage the heterogeneity in European classrooms in the mathematics education, it is necessary to teach mathematics by means of different forms. One perspective is that all human concepts, including mathematical concepts, are based in the perceptual motor system experiences that occur while interacting with the world around us (Wittmann, 2013).

Based on this perspective, one can benefit through discovering mathematics in the real environment in an active way. So called Math Trails are one possibility to allow problem solving in a more realistic way. The system MathCityMap is a digital tool that allows the preparation and organization of Math Trails by means of digital tools. It is already possible for teachers to create these math trails in a web portal and for students to run them on a corresponding smartphone app. It has been created and developed since 2012 and already counts more than 2000 active task creators and 5500 tasks in many different countries and languages all over the world and especially in Europe (Gurjanow et al., 2019).

Studies show that the MathCityMap Math Trails have a positive effect on the motivation (Cahyono, 2017) and the long-term performance and memory effects of learning when they are carried out regularly (Zender, 2018). Nevertheless, experiences show that Math Trails are mostly used as a special learning form for excursion days without further relevance for the normal mathematics lessons.

Aim

The idea of this project is to close the gap between “normal mathematics lessons” and Math Trails as a “special learning and teaching method” through adapting them to the European curricula of mathematics education and combining the needs of teachers with the technical possibilities of digitization. Surveys among teachers and MathCityMap users show that they wish for methods to assess students, follow their learning progress while running a trail, that they have sorrows in terms of supervision and that the amount of work for the preparation of a Math Trail is one of the main reasons why teachers do not use Math Trails regularly.

To reach the project’s aim, different activities and intellectual outputs are planned.