AccScience Publishing / AC / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/ac.6487
ARTICLE

Mathematics and art: Ideas to use in teacher education

Isabel Vale1,2* Ana Barbosa1,3
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1 Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Viana do Castelo, Portugal
2 Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal
3 Centro de Investigação e Inovação em Educação, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Porto, Portugal
Submitted: 22 November 2024 | Revised: 22 January 2025 | Accepted: 23 January 2025 | Published: 13 February 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract

Throughout history, there have always been connections between mathematics and various forms of art, such as music, dance, painting, sculpture, and architecture, which can be effectively used in mathematics classes with highly positive implications for students’ learning. In particular, geometry emerges as a central field in this relationship. These connections not only motivate students and promote mathematical learning but also foster creative thinking and an esthetic sense, both of which are intrinsic to many mathematical concepts. Furthermore, they enable students to recognize and understand the mathematics embedded in numerous visual artistic works. While art provides an esthetic experience for those who study mathematics, it also establishes a connection between thought and emotion, giving deeper meaning to what we perceive. However, this relationship is not always immediately visible. Therefore, both mathematics and art teachers need to use various connections to develop both the student’s “geometric eye” and “artistic eye”. This manuscript aims to discuss ideas about this connection between mathematics/geometry and art. In addition, it presents examples of tasks implemented during the initial training of elementary school teachers, along with some of the works produced by these future teachers.

Keywords
Connections
Elementary teacher education
Visual arts
Mathematics education
Geometry
Funding
This work was financially supported by Portuguese national funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) within the framework of the Research Centre on Child Studies of the University of Minho projects, CIEC (UIDB/00317/2020 and UIDP/00317/2020), and Centre for Research and Innovation in Education projects, in ED (UIDP/05198/2020).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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Arts & Communication, Electronic ISSN: 2972-4090 Published by AccScience Publishing