A Math Education Laboratory: a space for active learning and pedagogical innovation

School mathematics requires effective teaching that engages students in meaningful learning experiences, both individually and collaboratively, providing them with opportunities to communicate, reason, be creative, think critically, solve problems, and make decisions. In this approach, students are active individuals involved in their learning process, shaped by intellectual, social and physical interactions. So, future teachers should implement practices that lead their own students to develop these skills, which underscores the importance of teacher training programs designed to meet these challenges. This paper presents an exploratory qualitative study aimed at characterizing the Math Education Lab at our institution, the LEM, focusing on its role in teacher training programs to enhance pedagogical practices and improve students’ mathematical knowledge. In particular, we are interested in: characterizing the evolution of the LEM since its creation to the present day; describing activities experienced by preservice teachers in the LEM; and identifying future teachers’ perceptions about the LEM’s role in their professional development. Data were collected through a narrative design, based on documents, a questionnaire, and the personal experiences of two trainers/researchers who have engaged with the LEM over its existence. Preliminary results show that the LEM has evolved from a mere repository of manipulative materials, into a dynamic space where active learning of mathematics is worked on and research is carried out. Future teachers express the LEM’s importance as a privileged space to work on mathematics in different ways, in accordance with current trends, useful for their personal learning and actualization, but also as future teachers.