MindMaths: learning mathematics in the early years through computational thinking and robotics

MindMaths is an EU-funded project, started in 2020, with partners from Portugal, Italy, Turkey and Latvia, aiming to cope with math anxiety and problems with mathematics learning in primary education, using educational robotics. Throughout Flipped Learning Practices its focus is on initial primary teacher training, designing learning activities and resources to fulfill this challenge of preparing the future teachers to use robotics to release math anxiety. This paper presents an overview of the MindMaths Project and the main ideas underlying its development in the Portuguese context. It frames the more relevant learning issues in primary math education, presents the most significant initiative of programing and robotics in the Portuguese scene and discuss the potential that computational thinking and robotics offer for learning meaningful mathematics in the early years. It also presents a pilot study in a polytechnic school with the participation of 20 students, future teachers, discussing the main ideas of its development and results.