Primary school pre-service mathematics teachers' views on mathematical modeling

Abstract

The current study aimed to identify the views of pre-service teachers, who attended a primary school mathematics teaching department but did not take mathematical modeling courses. The mathematical modeling activity used by the pre-service teachers was developed with regards to the modeling activities utilized by Lesh and Doerr (2003) in their study. The present study was a qualitative case study. Following the modeling activity, focus group discussions were conducted with 14 pre-service teachers who attended a primary school mathematics teaching department in the Faculty of Education of a state university. Results of the study showed that because mathematical modeling activities are related to daily life problems, they facilitate the transfer of mathematics to daily life situations, support higher-level thinking and provide tangible experiences.