Educational games in math teaching: Brazilian study highlighted at conference in Spain

His passion for educational games and mathematics will take Tulio Koneçny, a master's student at the Getulio Vargas Foundation's School of Applied Mathematics (FGV EMAp), to Spain. Koneçny's poster has been accepted for the 19th International Technology, Education and Development Conference (Inted), which will take place from March 3 to 5 in Valencia. Recognized as one of the main European congresses focused on education and technology, Inted brings together researchers from all over the world to present and debate advances in the field.

Although he has participated in many academic events in Brazil, this will be the first time that the master's student in Applied Mathematics and Data Science will attend an international congress. "This will be an enriching experience to understand different realities and think about how to adapt these ideas to our context, especially in public education, which is where I work," he says.

Túlio's interest in educational games dates back to his undergraduate studies at FGV EMAp, when he developed 17 games, which now total 23. His goal, however, is to continue expanding his repertoire and reach the 50-game mark.

"The excellent training that the School provides gives me all the necessary grounding to achieve my goals. This opportunity to be out there, presenting our work and getting to know the innovations in the field up close, was only possible thanks to the support offered, both during my undergraduate and master's studies," emphasizes.

As well as presenting his theoretical contributions to the use of games as a teaching tool, Tulio was also invited to exhibit them at an exclusive stand, where visitors will be able to see how they work in practice.

"The conference is not just about presenting research. It also addresses the creation of teaching materials, teacher organization, the development of books and games, as well as the use of emerging technologies, such as augmented and virtual reality and 3D printing, applied to education," explains.

Next steps

As well as creating games, Tulio is also dedicated to understanding their impact on learning. For this reason, in his master's degree he is trying to measure how the use of this technology influences student learning. In an initial study, he monitored students from the final years of primary and secondary school for about a month. With the results consolidated, the master's student will now expand this study to cover the entire school year of these students.

Tulio has also invested in the production of educational books on games and mathematics. His debut book, entitled "Educational Games in Mathematics: a different proposal for primary and secondary schools", is the result of his Final Course Work (TCC) in Applied Mathematics. It can be downloaded for free from the author's website: Matemática para Todos. There you can also find the games he created, which are aimed at primary and secondary school students.

The second and third books by the FGV EMAp master's student are also underway, and are compilations of games - originals or adaptations of classics - accompanied by guides for teachers, free supplementary materials and lists of exercises to reinforce learning.

"Another novelty is that we're developing games that aren't just educational, i.e. they can also be played independently at home. Students may like the game and want to take it home and play it with their families, just as if it were a traditional game," concludes.