Construction of mathematical and financial concepts based on realistic mathematics education

Abstract

Context: Mathematics is present in people’s daily lives and involves from simple and easy to complex ways of identifying financial issues, such as buying at the supermarket, exchanging or selling a good, dividing an account, planning a trip, or even long-term financing. However, the school hardly addresses the subject. Objectives: To describe the results of a study carried out with students from an initial teacher education course. Design: From the development of a didactic sequence, we sought a connection between the ideas of Financial Education anchored on Realistic Mathematics Education (RME). Environment and participants: The study was conducted with 11 students from a Pedagogy course at a Brazilian university. Data collection and analysis: The data were collected through written records of the students’ activities, class observations, and audio and video recordings. The methodology of analysis was defined considering the procedures of Content Analysis, using the modality of thematic analysis that occurs in three phases: pre-analysis, exploration of the material and treatment of the results. Results: The discussions of the problem situations developed according to the principles of the RME aroused students’ interest, curiosity, autonomy, cooperation, and reflection on financial situations, showing that this approach contributed significantly to the development of the didactic sequence. Conclusions: This study shows that students benefit from mathematics teaching based on everyday contexts, such as motivation and interest to learn mathematics. Students can also use their understanding of mathematical concepts to organise their financial life, and, in a conscious, responsible, and autonomous way, improve their quality of life.