Didactical Materials Customizable to Suit Classroom Needs: A Valuable Resource for Teachers
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsReview
Didactical materials customizable to suit classroom needs: a valuable resource for teachers.
I would like to thank you for the opportunity to review this very interesting paper, which addresses an important topic such as the training of primary school mathematics teachers in a clear and effective manner.
Introduction
With respect to this statement in the Introduction (p.2): "this article refers to in-service teachers in primary schools, among whom the integration into usual practices and an eventual change in knowledge and beliefs may encounter more resistance, but also be more significant" it would be appropriate to have some bibliographic references to support it.
Theoretical framework
I believe that in paragraph 2.1 and 2.2.1 the number and length of quotes should be reduced by paraphrasing some concepts in a more personal manner.
Context and research question
I suggest providing an English translation of some Italian names in order to facilitate the understanding by non-Italian-speaking readers. For example: “Dipartimento dell’educazione, della cultura e dello sport (DECS)”, “Centro competenze didattica della matematica of the Dipartimento formazione apprendimento / Alta scuola pedagogica of the Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera italiana”, “MaMa – Matematica per la scuola elementare”
I think that in 3.1.1, line 271, you should explain what do you mean with “laboratory mode”, at least adding a literature reference. As I understand, indeed, this is a different concept in respect to the “laboratory dimension of design” that you explain in 2.2.1
Methods and materials
In this section, data collection methods are presented and the sample participating in the study is described.
Unfortunately, I cannot find an explanation of the data analysis method. This can be understood from the presentation of the results, but is not clearly explained.
Results
The results are clearly presented and I deem them interesting.
Discussion and conclusions
I think that this section is clearly written and coherent with the results presented above.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 1,
first of all we want to thank you for the valuable feedback and suggestions you shared with us to improve the quality and clarity of our manuscript.
In the reported table, we describe the main actions we have undertaken to meet the modifications suggested.
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Comment |
Action/choice |
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Introduction. With respect to this statement in the Introduction (p.2): "this article refers to in-service teachers in primary schools, among whom the integration into usual practices and an eventual change in knowledge and beliefs may encounter more resistance, but also be more significant" it would be appropriate to have some bibliographic references to support it. |
We added three references in line 66: [6] Liljedahl, P., Oesterle, S., & Bernéche, C. (2012). Stability of beliefs in mathematics education: A critical analysis. Nordic Studies in Mathematics Education, 17(3–4), 101–118. [7] Pehkonen, E., & Turner, G. (1999). Teachers’ professional development: What are the key change factors for mathematics teachers?. European Journal of Teacher Education, 22(2–3), 259–275. [8] Prodromou, T., Robutti, O., & Panero, M. (2018). Making sense out of the emerging complexity inherent in professional development. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 30, 445–473. |
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Theoretical framework. I believe that in paragraph 2.1 and 2.2.1 the number and length of quotes should be reduced by paraphrasing some concepts in a more personal manner. |
We paraphrased two long quotations by Perrin-Glorian & Bellemain (par. 2.1, lines 106-110) and by Grange (par. 2.2.1, lines 166-168). |
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Context and research questions. I suggest providing an English translation of some Italian names in order to facilitate the understanding by non-Italian-speaking readers. For example: “Dipartimento dell’educazione, della cultura e dello sport (DECS)”, “Centro competenze didattica della matematica of the Dipartimento formazione apprendimento / Alta scuola pedagogica of the Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera italiana”, “MaMa – Matematica per la scuola elementare”. |
We translated in brackets the following names, for which there is not an official translation into English: MaMa – Matematica per la scuola elementare (line 7, 50, 241, 675), Dipartimento dell’educazione, della cultura e dello sport (line 8, 48, 233), Piano di studio della scuola dell’obbligo ticinese (line 46), the title of the teacher education courses in line 412 and 415. Instead, for Dipartimento formazione e apprendimento, Alta scuola pedagogica, Centro competenze didattica della matematica e Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera italiana, we directly used the English official names (lines 234-237). |
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I think that in 3.1.1, line 271, you should explain what do you mean with “laboratory mode”, at least adding a literature reference. As I understand, indeed, this is a different concept in respect to the “laboratory dimension of design” that you explain in 2.2.1 |
We added two references for the laboratory as a didactic method: [27] Baldacci, M. (2004). Il laboratorio come strategia didattica. Suggestioni deweyane. In R. Travaglini & N. Filograsso (Eds.), Dewey e l’educazione della mente (pp. 86–97). FrancoAngeli. [28] Hattie, J., Bustamante, V., Almarode, J., Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2020). Great teaching by design: From intention to implementation in the visible learning classroom. Corwin. |
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Methods and materials. Unfortunately, I cannot find an explanation of the data analysis method. This can be understood from the presentation of the results, but is not clearly explained. |
We added a part explaining our data analysis method at the end of par. 4 (lines 399-404). |
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsI enjoyed reading the article, which is well written and argued.
I would suggest the following minor revisions:
1) Translate the Italian names of the Guidelines and Institutions in the whole text or at least provide an explanation in a footnote for what they stand for (e.g. lines 44-46); provide also an English translation of the project's name itself (lines 47-48).
2) Explain shortly what the materials used as examples are about (e.g., provide an exampe of "prohibited words" in the case of the game cards presented in Figure 2, and tell what the rationale of the game is; explain shortly what the worksheets presented in Figures 3 and 4 are about). Indeed, being the materials not translated in English, this information seems to me to be necessary.
3) Provide a more readable version of Figure 7, increasing a little bit the font size.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 2,
we want to thank you for the valuable feedback and suggestions you shared with us to improve the quality and clarity of our manuscript.
In the reported table, we describe the main actions we have undertaken to meet the modifications suggested.
| Comment | Action/choice |
|
Translate the Italian names of the Guidelines and Institutions in the whole text or at least provide an explanation in a footnote for what they stand for (e.g. lines 44-46); provide also an English translation of the project's name itself (lines 47-48). |
We translated in brackets the following names, for which there is not an official translation into English: MaMa – Matematica per la scuola elementare (line 7, 50, 241, 675), Dipartimento dell’educazione, della cultura e dello sport (line 8, 48, 233), Piano di studio della scuola dell’obbligo ticinese (line 46), the title of the teacher education courses in line 412 and 415. Instead, for Dipartimento formazione e apprendimento, Alta scuola pedagogica, Centro competenze didattica della matematica e Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera italiana, we directly used the English official names (lines 234-237). |
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Explain shortly what the materials used as examples are about (e.g., provide an exampe of "prohibited words" in the case of the game cards presented in Figure 2, and tell what the rationale of the game is; explain shortly what the worksheets presented in Figures 3 and 4 are about). Indeed, being the materials not translated in English, this information seems to me to be necessary. |
We described the “Mathematical taboo” game, and we added an example of prohibited words for each of the versions proposed (lines 278-285). We translated into English the materials in Figures 2, 3, 4 for a better understanding. |
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Provide a more readable version of Figure 7, increasing a little bit the font size. |
We enlarged the font size of Figure 7 for a better reading. |
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsI think that the manuscript has been greatly improved and now it can be published as it is.
