Secondary Teachers’ Beliefs About Teaching Applications – Design and Selected Results of a Qualitative Case Study

Abstract

As a result of the standard-based curricula, in several countries secondary teachers’ beliefs about applications or modelling have developed in the scope of mathematics education. In contrast, German secondary teachers rarely integrate applications or modelling into their instructional practice. This research report is focused on teachers’ beliefs that hinder or promote integrating applications or modelling into their teaching practice. The objective of this approach was to reconstruct the teachers’ belief systems concerning applications. The undefined term “beliefs” is specified by the psychological construct of “subjective theories.” In this chapter, results with reference to the subjective theories of teachers with respect to modelling will be presented. Furthermore, some recommendations concerning teacher training will be sketched.