01/03/2018

IMPA project proposes open and collaborative textbook.

A single mathematics textbook adopted in classrooms with diverse realities and used by teachers with equally heterogeneous experiences and skills. What is the result? It may become an effective teaching-learning tool in one particular school, but frustrating in another.

In contrast to the idea of a single, finished, closed book, IMPA embraced the concept of an open work, created collaboratively from diverse contexts, based on research in the fields of Teaching and Mathematics Education and on the experience of teachers who are daily in the classrooms of Basic Education.

The "Open Mathematics Book" project is an effort by teachers to produce collections of mathematics textbooks for basic education in a collaborative way and with an open license (Creative Commons), explains IMPA researcher Augusto Teixeira, who coordinates the initiative along with the director of the School of Mathematics at Unirio, Fábio Simas, who holds a master's and doctorate from IMPA.

“There is no single best textbook. There is the best textbook for that particular teacher, or student, in a given context. Every teacher can contribute. The idea is that the book is the trunk of the tree. And the branches are the incorporated or modified versions,” compares Simas, explaining the project's symbol, a tree emerging from the pages of an open book ( see the video below ).

The idea emerged at the end of 2015. IMPA, which already participates in Basic Education through OBMEP and has experience in publishing, wanted to take a step further. The subject quickly sparked the interest of Teixeira and Simas, enthusiasts of the idea of open educational resources.

They wrote a project proposal, presented in February 2016 to the Director-General of IMPA, Marcelo Viana, and the Deputy Director, Claudio Landim. With approval granted, Teixeira began developing the book cloud application, where users can view and download the content, in its most recent versions, in HTML and PDF format. After registering, it's possible to participate in a discussion forum and edit the text directly on the platform, like a kind of Wikipedia. The difference here is that all edits are evaluated by the review team.

The content of each book is determined by the National Common Curriculum Base and supplemented with extra topics selected by the project's organizing team. In the case of Mathematics, there are five axes: geometry; measurement and shape; probability and statistics; numbers and operations; algebra and functions.

Teixeira emphasizes that the project aims to encourage teachers to take a leading role and enable the creation of textbooks free from the constraints of the traditional production process, thus valuing innovation. According to him, because producing a textbook requires significant effort, and bidding processes encompass various services such as writing, illustration, and distribution, this ultimately discourages changes to the material.

Furthermore, the IMPA researcher observes that, since classes in Brazil tend to be very textbook-focused, it is even more crucial that the material be as appropriate as possible. "Preparing a lesson takes time. In Basic Education, since many teachers work in more than one school and have busy schedules, they often arrive in the classroom without having prepared the lesson and go straight to the textbook. There are several problems that need to be addressed. We are trying to act on one of them, which is improving the textbook," Teixeira points out.

“The philosophy is to give teachers a leading role. Nowadays, research in mathematics education shows that a large portion of teachers follow the textbook almost blindly. We don't want a closed book. Every teacher can contribute. We want the teacher who is using the book, if they don't like a particular activity, if they feel it doesn't fit into their context, to go to the project website, modify the book, reprint it, and give it to the student,” Simas exemplifies.

Workshops in March

The project began with volume 1 of the Elementary School Fractions textbook, for students and teachers from the Wednesdays to the 7th grade. It was developed based on scientific research and the authors' experience in the classroom and in training mathematics teachers. In its second version, the material is available on the website. It is possible to access the teacher's book PDF for viewing on screens, for printing on A4 paper, and the student's book PDF.

In addition to the Fractions book, the project team has begun developing a collection of textbooks for high school, following the guidelines of the National Textbook Program (PNLD). The chapters are currently undergoing external review. The environment where the collection is being developed, funded by the Itaú Social Foundation, is accessible.

Teixeira and Simas hope that the community will increasingly interact through suggestions and comments, and become a collaborator. In addition to spontaneous participation, contributions to the "Open Book of Mathematics" are made through requests from the organizing team to teachers, encouraging them to use excerpts from the book in the classroom and provide feedback on their experience.

Another form of interaction is through workshops where the organizing team and teachers share knowledge. The next workshops will be held on March Mondays, Tuesdays, and 9th, for high school or middle school teachers. The workshops will take place at the Professor Libânio Guedes Theater, at Colégio Pedro II, Tijuca II Campus, and will cover four topics: “Thales' Theorem”, “Measures of Position and Dispersion”, “Orthogonal Views and Perspective Representations”, and “Linear Function”.

Registration can be done via this link. Participants will receive printed learning materials and a certificate. For more information, visit the project website .