Pre-service Teachers’ Developing Conceptions about the Nature and Pedagogy of Mathematical Modeling in the Context of a Mathematical Modeling Course

ABSTRACT

Adopting a multitiered design-based research perspective, this study examines pre-service secondary mathematics teachers’ developing conceptions about (a) the nature of mathematical modeling in simulations of “real life” problem solving, and (b) pedagogical principles and strategies needed to teach mathematics through modeling. Unlike other studies that have focused on single-topic and lesson-sized research sites, a course-sized research site was used in this study. Having been through several iterations over three teaching semesters, the 15-week long course was implemented with 25 pre-service secondary mathematics teachers. Findings revealed that pre-service teachers developed ideas about the nature of mathematical modeling involving what mathematical modeling is, the relationship between mathematical modeling and meaningful understanding, and the nature of mathematical modeling tasks. They also realized the changing roles of teachers during modeling implementations and diversity in students’ ways of thinking. The researchers’ conceptual development, on the other hand, involved realizing the critical aspect of the “teacher role” played by the instructor during modeling implementations, and the need for more experience of modeling implementations for pre-service teachers.

Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to Professor Lyn English and Professor Richard Lesh for their helpful suggestions and feedback through several drafts. The authors are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and criticism.

Funding

The research reported here was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) under grant number 110K250. Ayhan Kursat ERBAS is supported by the Turkish Academy of Sciences through the Young Scientist Award Program (A.K.E./TÜBA-GEBİP/2012-11).

Additional information

Funding

The research reported here was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) under grant number 110K250. Ayhan Kursat ERBAS is supported by the Turkish Academy of Sciences through the Young Scientist Award Program (A.K.E./TÜBA-GEBİP/2012-11).