Description

The project “Coming to terms not only with the pandemic. Mathematics learning loss in primary school: underlying factors and interventions”, funded by MUR - Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca, Call PRIN Progetti di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale 2022, aims to investigate in an interdisciplinary way a condition of learning loss that, in certain ways, is similar to the pandemic condition, considering the reduced school’s presence and the role given to families, namely the consequences of the Italian school’s long summer break. To this aim an intervention contrasting learning loss has been implemented, realized in the project “MATES – Matematica per Tutti in Estate”, which proposes online teacher training activities devoted to teachers and innovative educational activities based on storytelling and delivered by an interactive webapp devoted to parents and students in order to promote competences in and interest for mathematics of primary school pupils.

Objectives

The project has three general objectives:

1. Increasing interdisciplinary knowledge on the development of mathematical skills in primary school: to this aim, we will take into account looking both at the link between cognitive, non cognitive and emotional competencies, and at the generative processes underlying the relative inequalities in gender, social origin, and migratory background, with a special focus on school-family dynamics;
2. To study the formation of learning loss during Italian schools’ long summer break: the focus is in particular on specific mechanisms that are still understudied (pupils’ friendship networks, family support over and beyond homework, summer activities, etc.);
3. Rigorously identifying and testing intervention strategies to contrast summer learning loss (or other forms of learning loss: particular interest has disadvantaged pupils, focusing on additional interventions to those already in place in schools (especially remedial courses).

We believe that the characteristics of the activities proposed in the project (early, out of school and fun-experiential, connected with Italian schools’ long summer break – cf par 2.5) can contribute not only to contrast the summer learning loss, but also to heal the pandemic scarring effect, contrasting the relative increase in educational inequalities.

Partners

The research group is strongly interdisciplinary (with disciplines such as sociology, educational sciences, pedagogy, mathematics, psycology, economics, statistics) and involves five Italian universities hosting the project's research units:

• Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca (leader partner), Dip. di Sociologia;
• Università degli Studi di Brescia, Dip. di Economia e Management;
• Università degli Studi di Salerno, Dip. di Ingegneria dell’Informazione ed Elettrica e Matematica applicata;
• Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Dip. di Scienze Sociali;
• Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Facoltà di Scienze della Formazione, Dip. di Sociologia.

Additional Informations