Can Modelling Be Taught and Learnt? Some Answers from Empirical Research

Abstract

This chapter deals with empirical findings on the teaching and learning of mathematical modelling, with a focus on grades 8–10, that is, 14–16-year-old students. The emphasis lies on the actual behaviour of students and teachers in learning environments with modelling tasks. Most examples in this chapter are taken from our own empirical investigations in the context of the project DISUM. In the first section, the terms used in this chapter are recollected from a cognitive point of view by means of examples, and reasons are summarised why modelling is an important and also demanding activity for students and teachers. In the second section, examples are given of students’ difficulties when solving modelling tasks, and some important findings concerning students dealing with modelling tasks are presented. The third section concentrates on teachers; examples of successful interventions are given, as well as some findings concerning teachers treating modelling examples in the classroom. In the fourth section, some implications for teaching modelling are summarised, and some encouraging (though not yet fully satisfying) results on the advancement of modelling competency are presented.