MaTHiSiS partners are meeting in Luxembourg for the final revision of the H2020 project at the European Commission’s Euroforum. Annaleda Mazzucato and Andrea Cira will present the research activity conducted over the past three years by 200 teachers and over 400 students with special needs. The partners studied the impact of MaTHiSiS on learning, the relation between affection and results (with particular attention to autism spectrum disorders) and a range of learning disabilities.
The result of the analysis reveals that there is a strong relation between involvement and learning processes. This association was observed not only in the group as a whole, but also for each subgroup (learning difficulties, autistic spectrum and combined cases).
By comparing involvement probability and scores between intervention and control conditions, partners observed that there is a significantly greater possibility of involvement during intervention. However, there are no differences in the progress scores.
The discussion groups have indicated that teaches believe that MaTHiSiS has the potential to transform their teaching activities, allows them to view their students in a new light and transforms their teaching practices.
In conclusion, while previous research has revealed the potential of digital teaching materials, the results of this report indicate that a system that is correlated to the emotional states of students increases their involvement. The ability of the system to monitor and register even minor progress is appreciated by teaches and coaches in the test sites. Last, but not least, from a cost perspective, the system requires an initial investment, but is compensated by subsequent savings in terms of re-use and sharing of teaching materials, as well as freeing teachers up to conduct other activities. All users require reassurance on the proactive protection and security of data.
