Programming for Developing Mathematical Competencies

In recent years, programming has gained increased attention in school curricula in many countries, including Norway. The introduction of programming in schools is expected to have a positive effect on students’ competence in programming—but it is not currently known how this will affect competence and skills in topics of mathematics. This strategic research project investigates how programming can successfully become an integral part of mathematics education in primary and secondary school, when programming is utilis ed to support learners’ development of mathematical competencies. Our project develops and evaluates how teaching practices and teaching material can target specific mathematical competencies. Since its implementation in 2020, the Norwegian mathematics curriculum in primary and secondary school has focused on five core competencies (referred to as core elements in the curriculum): (1) Exploration and problem solving, (2) Modelling and applications, (3) Reasoning and argumentation, (4) Representation and communication, (5) Abstraction and generalisation. To ensure relevance to the teaching profession, the research is done in close collaboration between teachers, pre-service teachers, and researchers. By using an exploratory mixed methods design, the project will thoroughly test the teaching practices and evaluate them in practice. This research project will be the first of its kind to connect programming to the core elements in the mathematics curriculum in Norway. Based on our findings, we disseminate results and provide recommendations to a broad audience, including teachers, school owners, the academic community, and policymakers.

In recent years, programming has gained increased attention in school curricula in many countries, including Norway. It is expected that the introduction of programming in schools will have a positive effect on student’ competence in programming, but how this will affect competence and skills in topics of mathematics is currently unknown. This strategic research project investigates how programming can successfully become an integral part of mathematics education in primary and secondary school, utilized to support learners’ development of mathematical competencies. The project develops teaching practices and material targeting specific mathematical competencies. To ensure relevance to the teaching profession, the development is done in close collaboration between teachers, pre-service teachers, and researchers. By using an exploratory mixed methods design the project will thoroughly test the teaching practices and evaluate them in practice. The project will be a first of its kind to connect programming to the core elements in the mathematics curriculum in Norway. The aim is to become a leading knowledge hub and competence centre for programming in mathematics in primary, secondary and upper secondary education, and a considerable effort is made to consolidate the teaching practices in schools. Based on our findings, we disseminate results and provide recommendations to a broad audience, including teachers, school owners, the academic community, and policymakers.