Identifying Drivers for Mathematical Modelling – A Commentary

Abstract

In the following, I will comment on the chapter by Haines on “Drivers for Mathematical Modelling: Pragmatism in Practice” in this volume. The examples described by Haines exemplify in an expressive way that modelling can be quite challenging and many reality-related problems can be only dealt with at tertiary level. Subsequently, it may be questioned if modelling is possible in lower secondary school and even in primary school. When it comes to lower secondary level, this has been widely accepted (see e.g. Blum and Leiß 2007). Additionally, modelling is also possible at primary level, when appropriate tasks for children are chosen (see, e.g. Biembengut 2007).