Model-Eliciting Activities: Engaging students to make sense of the world

Abstract

Model-Eliciting Activities (MEAs) demand students to construct, test and revise mathematical modelling during the learning process. In MEAs, students are provided open-ended questions using real life contexts. Six principles that are essential in the activity include Personal Meaningfulness, Model Construction, Self Evaluation, Model Documentation, Effective Prototype, as well as Model Share-ability and Reusability. This literature study describes briefly how MEAs are able to engage students developing connection between mathematics and the world. It is indicated that the contexts might assist students in making sense of mathematics and build relation with real life problems. An example is given to illustrate the Model-Eliciting Activities using a topic in Trigonometry.