Modeling cycles and covariational reasoning when carrying out a model eliciting activity

Abstract

The objective of this article is to present an analysis of the modeling cycles that students of the first quarter of an Accounting and Business Administration career built by carrying out a model eliciting activity [MEA]; derived from this analysis, a guide is proposed that allows evaluating models built by students when solving MEAs where the concept of function underlies. This study was based on the Models and Modeling Perspective and the Covariational Reasoning Framework. The methodology was qualitative, ten students with ages between 23 and 32 participated. The results show that the students exhibited ideas of linearity in their first models, which evolved to become exponential models; at the same time, the students’ covariational reasoning was modified, extended, and refined across different levels.