Mathematical Modeling with Multidisciplinary Applications

CHAPTER 4

TEACHING MATHEMATICAL MODELING IN TEACHER EDUCATION: EFFORTS AND RESULTS

THOMAS LINGEFJÄRD

University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Can mathematical modeling serve as a vehicle for the learning of mathematics? Mathematical modeling is mentioned in most countries’ curricula, yet it is not as valued either in the teaching of school mathematics or in most of the teacher training programs the author knows of. Nevertheless, in mathematical modeling processes, the mathematics really comes into play and many mathematical modeling exercises show the importance of mathematics in many different ways. The purpose of this chapter is to show that also in mathematics education there are many different modeling activities that could be used.

4.1 INTRODUCTION

There are many reasons to give a course on mathematical modeling to lower secondary and upper secondary prospective teachers. To start with, the teaching of mathematical modeling might allow students to take more responsibility over their own learning and the teaching might be changed into a more undirected teaching manner.

The heart of applied mathematics is the injunction “Here is a situation; think about it.” The heart of our usual mathematics teaching, on the other hand, is: “Here is a problem; solve it” or “Here is a theorem; prove it.” We have very rarely, in mathematics, allowed the student to explore a situation for himself and find out what the right theorem to prove or the right problem to solve might be. [26, p. 328]

Second, ...