FALEDIA

The joint project FALEDIA (further) developed, tested and researched a prototypical digital subject concept for the training and further education of primary school mathematics teachers. FALEDIA addresses the educational policy challenge of the increasing heterogeneity of learners by strengthening the diagnostic and support skills of lecturers in order to enable pupils to strengthen their skills in a targeted manner.

As part of the research project, a digital, case-based learning platform for increasing diagnostic skills (FALEDIA) was developed. This learning platform prepares the necessary knowledge on various mathematical topics in the areas of background knowledge, diagnostic competence and support competence. Care was taken to make the knowledge transfer particularly appealing to the target group by combining informative and exploratory elements (learning modules). Currently, five different learning modules are used in different variations, as well as knowledge transfer through text, video and sound. Figure 1 shows an example of a learning module for strengthening diagnostic skills. The content, learning modules and page structure were developed in conjunction with all partners using an agile and iterative approach. This approach led to the first version of the learning platform, which was used and evaluated by over 200 students at TU Dortmund University as part of a mathematics didactics lecture. The qualitative and quantitative data collected was used to develop a second version of the learning platform based on the first version. Figure 2 shows a section of the learning platform. The second version of the learning platform was evaluated again in the same mathematics didactics lecture. In addition, a site transfer to the WWU Münster was carried out to check whether the concepts used were transferable. In total, the second version of the learning platform was used and evaluated by over 600 students. The research questions of the research project include, among other things, the usage behavior of students with the FALEDIA subject concept. During use, the actions on the learning platform were recorded in order to gain an insight into the real usage behavior of the students. After using the learning platform, the students were questioned in the form of questionnaires on the following topics: usability of the learning platform, cognitive load created during use, personal learning style, how motivating the learning platform was perceived to be and their learning context. The evaluation of the collected qualitative and quantitative data showed that the learning platform was initially rated positively in terms of its usability and that the cognitive load was not perceived as too high. This forms the basis for the acceptance of the learning platform by the students. In addition, the learning platform was perceived as motivating, which was also reflected in the recorded actions of the usage behavior; the majority of students interacted with the integrated learning modules and many were able to solve them successfully. The ratio of time spent on the learning platform in relation to engagement with the informative elements and learning modules was 35 to 65. This suggests that both areas are important and were used substantially. A particularly important aspect for the success of the research project is the composition of the consortium and the interaction between the different partners: TU Dortmund University's main task is to develop the subject concept and to support the project from a math didactics perspective. The WWU Münster supports the TU Dortmund University in this and also facilitates cross-university transfer. Fachhochschule Dortmund is responsible for the design, use and acceptance of the digital case-based learning platform.