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.