Problem solving on cube Planning: an approach through concrete materials

Abstract

This article reports on the experimental activity called "Problem-solving on cube planning: an approach using manipulatives", which was proposed to students in the subject Mathematics Teaching Methodology. The aim of the work was to obtain the plannings of the cube using manipulable materials. The suggested activity consisted of constructing the cube and deconstructing it in order to visualize it on the plane. In addition, problems involving this content were given in order to allow the student to interact with the plannings. The discussion around these problems was very productive. The results showed that the activity encouraged the search for new teaching strategies, in order to make the learning process meaningful for basic education students. From the discussions, it was possible to see that the task contributed to improving the initial training of undergraduate mathematics students. Thus, when proposing a challenge to students, it is necessary to develop strategies for understanding the problem and establish creative ways of finding solutions that can use manipulable materials.