The scarcity of studies dedicated to the integration of educational robotics (ER) in teaching
mathematical content, and the discomfort of teachers when integrating ER in their teaching
practices make it pertinent to understand the development of the didactic knowledge of
mathematics necessary to integrate ER in mathematics teaching practices during initial teacher
training. This qualitative and interpretive study identifies the knowledge of the didactic dimension
from the didactic-mathematical knowledge conceptual framework that is mobilized by pre-service
teachers (PST) during the implementation of mathematical tasks that integrate ER during the
practicum. Through content analysis of the data collected on the PST’s performance, we mapped
the occurrence and co-occurrence based on the components of the didactic suitability criteria.
From the results, we highlight: (i) the existence of a relationship between the mathematical
knowledge needed to teach, knowledge of the mathematics curriculum, and knowledge of ER and
how its integration in the teaching process can influence the learning process and (ii) the positive
contribution of the implementation in the practicum of mathematical tasks that promote robot
manipulation/programming at the same time as the exploration of the mathematical content for
the development of the participants’ didactic knowledge of mathematics. A practical implication
of our results is that these features should be part of future work dedicated to integrating ER in
mathematics teaching practices of PST, aiming to assess their value in initial teacher training
programs.
Keywords: mathematics education, educational robotics, initial teacher training, practicum,
didactic suitability criteria