Teacher Professional Development on Mathematical Modelling: Initial Perspectives from Singapore

Abstract

In this chapter, I will provide commentary on the symposium dedicated to teacher professional development on mathematical modelling in Singapore which was based on papers by: Chan, Teacher professional development on mathematical modelling: Conceptions of mathematical modelling; Lee, Initial perspectives from Singapore: Problem posing and task design; and Ng, Teacher professional development on mathematical modelling: Facilitation and scaffolding. Across these three themes emerge – the importance for teachers to understand the nature of mathematical modelling; the need to acknowledge the interconnection between teaching, learning and assessment; and the influence of teacher dispositions toward designing modelling tasks. I conclude this commentary by offering observations on the research designs employed in these studies.