{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,2]],"date-time":"2025-11-02T03:10:53Z","timestamp":1762053053289,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,16]],"date-time":"2022-05-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1652659200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Education Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Tasks are a key resource in the process of teaching and learning mathematics, which is why task design continues to be one of the main research issues in mathematics education. Different settings can influence the principles underlying the formulation of tasks, and so does the outdoor context. Specifically, a math trail can be a privileged context, known to promote positive attitudes and additional engagement for the learning of mathematics, confronting students with a sequence of real-life tasks, related to a particular mathematical theme. Recently, mobile devices and apps, i.e., MathCityMap, have been recognized as an important resource to facilitate the extension of the classroom to the outdoors. The study reported in this paper intends to identify the principles of design for mobile theme-based math trails (TBT) that result in rich learning experiences in early algebraic thinking. A designed-based research is used, through a qualitative approach, to develop and refine design principles for TBT about Sequences and Patterns. The iterative approach is described by cycles with the intervention of the researchers, pre-service and in-service teachers and students of the targeted school levels. The results are discussed taking into account previous research and data collected along the cycles, conducing to the development of general design principles for TBT tasks.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/educsci12050346","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,16]],"date-time":"2022-05-16T13:06:23Z","timestamp":1652706383000},"page":"346","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Walking through Algebraic Thinking with Theme-Based (Mobile) Math Trails"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6314-7080","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana","family":"Barbosa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Education and Teacher Training, Escola Superior de Educa\u00e7\u00e3o, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Viana do Castelo, Rua Escola Industrial e Comercial de Nun\u2019\u00c1lvares, 4900-347 Viana do Castelo, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6155-7935","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Isabel","family":"Vale","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Education and Teacher Training, Escola Superior de Educa\u00e7\u00e3o, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Viana do Castelo, Rua Escola Industrial e Comercial de Nun\u2019\u00c1lvares, 4900-347 Viana do Castelo, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1691-4435","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simone","family":"Jablonski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Education, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1296-8898","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Matthias","family":"Ludwig","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Education, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"NCTM (2014). 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