Future Teachers' Perceptions towards Incorporating Board Games to Teach Mathematical Skills in History Classes

Abstract

Literature has emphasized the value of multidisciplinary learning strategies and the necessity of educating students to solve complex problems. It also pointed out the importance of teacher’s beliefs in their practices. The purpose of this study is to understand how future teachers recognize the board game Caravelas as a didactic tool to help elementary school students develop math skills in History and Geography Portugal (HGP) classes, in a multidisciplinary way. A board game intervention was employed in the study, and both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from sixteen future teachers enrolled in the Didactic of HGP course during their third year of the Basic Education programme. Two questionnaires were used along with a focus group discussion. The findings indicate that this group of future teachers thinks Caravelas can help students achieve their learning goals in mathematics and HGP, as well as develop their reasoning, problem- solving, and social skills. Future teachers believe Caravelas can be used as a didactic tool to integrate mathematics into HGP subjects and support multidisciplinary learning.