The enGasia project (2014-2017) is a British Academy funded international partnership project with Hong Kong and Japan. In international comparisons for mathematics like PISA and TIMSS, Asia outperforms England considerably. For geometry this difference is even greater. With a new maths curriculum coming into play in England in 2014, this project aims to compare geometry education in England, Japan and Hong Kong and to find out how an interactive electronic book could improve geometry teaching. Based on specific characteristics of the participating countries two digital resources (electronic books) will be designed. They are then implemented in classrooms in those countries. The methodology will include a more qualitative approach based on lesson observations and a quasi-experimental element. The results of this will be disseminated in several publications, public workshops and a dedicated weblog. The proposed project will result in a close collaborative network between England, Japan and Hong Kong.

There are three research phases in the methodology for this project:

1. Identifying the challenges to be resolved by ICT by getting a clear picture of the contextual factors in the three participating countries.
2. Designing two interactive 20 page electronic textbooks on mutually agreed topic of 2D geometry for 12-16 yr olds toward addressing these challenges.
3. Examining the effect of the electronic textbooks by implementing the digital resources in one HK, JP and ENG classroom per annum. The methodology will consist of a combination of: (i) lesson observations along the lines of the TIMSS 1999 video study and Lesson Study (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999) and (ii) a quasi-experimental approach.

For more information see the Engasia blog.