Empowering Mathematics education in security and defence: technological tools and methodological strategies for motivation enhancement

Mathematical and digital skills are recognized as key competencies for lifelong learning. In Mathematics education, identifying appropriate methodologies and tools to increase motivation and engagement is crucial, particularly in interdisciplinary contexts such as security and defence. Through a survey administered to 2,000 students and teachers at military academies and universities in several European Member States, this study investigates the role of technology in promoting students' motivation to learn Mathematics in this field, including non-STEM majors. The research also examines the perceived effectiveness of various teaching methodologies and digital tools in teaching Mathematics from different perspectives. The study follows a mixed methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative analyses of the responses to the survey through statistical inference techniques. Findings indicate that digital tools positively impact students’ perception of Mathematics, supporting self-assessment and interactive problem-solving. Additionally, both students and instructors favor practical methodologies such as problem-solving, learning by doing, and collaborative learning, while the integration of gamification and AI-based tools remains limited. The results contribute to a deeper understanding of best practices for teaching and learning Mathematics in security and defence contexts and provide insights for future research in other interdisciplinary and applied fields. Our analysis took place in accordance with international partners from the European project DIMAS, which aims at increasing interest in studying Mathematics in the field of security and defence and at providing more understandable Mathematics problems and Mathematics applications using digital tools.