Experiential learning cycle in Mathematics

Abstract

What is a mathematical competence? What conditions support the “know how to act with competence”? How can we prepare educational activities to facilitate the “act with expertise in mathematics”? The aim of this paper is try to answer these questions. We show the experimentation of a situation-problem in mathematics, proposed for high school, able to start the experiential learning cycle. In particular, we want to describe the different phases of the experiential learning cycle, explaining the activities that teacher and students develop; identify difficulties and obstacles encountered by students to solve the problem and explain the methodology to overcome; evaluate the experience, indicating strengths and weaknesses.