Teaching Pre-service Teachers to Make Digital Stories that Explain Complex Mathematical Concepts in a Real-World Context: The "Math-eo" Project, Creating "Cool New Tools"

This mixed methods study examines whether engaging in a problem-solving project to create Math-eos (digital videos) increases pre-service teachers' understanding of the relationship between visual, auditory, and verbal representation and critical thinking in mathematics. Additionally, the study looks at what aspects of a digital problem solving project support pre-service teachers' ability to integrate digital technology in mathematics education. Results indicated that, as pre-service teachers worked through the writing/problem solving process and constructed digital stories, or Math-eos, they became more aware of the advantages of using this multimodal approach to teach mathematical concepts to elementary and middle school students. The Math-eo Project provided pre-service teachers, who typically used digital media only for socializing and meeting web-based course requirements, with a new tool for their own learning and teaching. Designing Math-eos also enabled them to integrate digital technology in the mathematics curriculum with the aim of increasing student engagement, motivation and knowledge.