In the precalculus curriculum, logistic growth generally appears in either a discrete or continuous setting. These actually feature distinct versions of logistic growth, and textbooks rarely provide exposure to both. In this paper, we show how each approach can be improved by incorporating an aspect of the other, based on a little known synthesis…

Students exit calculus with understandings of change that want for conceptual depth and are disconnected from real-world contexts. In this paper, we present a problem that will develop their skills in using "change" concepts for learning differential equations through modelling. The problem comes from a qualitative study of how STEM…

Several studies indicate that exploring mathematical ideas by using more than one approach to prove the same statement is an important matter in mathematics education. In this work, we have collected a few different methods of proving the multinomial theorem. The goal is to help further the understanding of this theorem for those who may not be…

The student experience with mathematical modelling has the potential to differ in nature to the experience of a typical mathematics student. The research reported in this paper forms part of a broader study looking into tertiary learning experiences for mathematical modelling. This paper reports on: What are the student experiences when learning…

The training of non-specialists, particularly engineers, in mathematics requires designing specific didactic proposals that make the importance of mathematics evident. One approach to creating such proposals consists in analyzing the mathematics used in authentic contexts of engineering research and then effectuating a didactic transposition to…

Although the secondary-tertiary transition has been investigated in mathematics education research with different focuses and theoretical approaches, it remains a major issue for students in the transition. With success in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) major at stake, we investigated a novel approach to support the…

This work is a segment of an ongoing doctoral research in Brazil. The Leonardo numbers and the Leonardo sequence have gained attention from mathematicians and the academic community. Despite being a relatively new sequence within mathematical literature, its discussion has intensified over the past five years, giving rise to other branches, with…

A growing consensus holds that preservice K-8 teachers (PSTs) need to experience the modeling process as learners to understand it and envision teaching modeling in their future classrooms. We examine this recommendation by exploring how PSTs construct models and how collaborative learning practices influence them in revising and refining their…

In this paper, we share a mentorship model we developed and implemented while collaborating with pre-service teachers (PSTs) on their Model Eliciting Activity projects and the outcomes of the mentorship model in terms of PSTs' growth as teachers as well as researchers. For their projects, PSTs designed and developed their own mathematical modeling…

This Perspectives on Practice manuscript focuses on an innovation associated with "Engaging Teachers in the Powerful Combination of Mathematical Modeling and Social Justice: The Flint Water Task" from Volume 7, Issue 2 of "MTE". The Flint Water Task has shown great promise in achieving the dual goals of exploring mathematical…

Seeking to leverage students' interests into mathematical tasks and noticing how their students excitedly discussed the NCAA's Division 1-A football rankings every year, the authors devised a mathematical modeling task in which students could use mathematics to justify their rankings. The task takes students on a journey to consider the complexity…

Real-world mathematical problem (RWMP) solving and posing are important aspects of teaching and learning mathematical modelling, as well as developing a mathematization disposition for both teachers and students. Several researchers have explored blockages or difficulties in such modelling processes and in problem posing. However, prior research…

This article provides conceptual ideas, data, and exercises, for integrating original sources of recent, state of the art, world-class life science research in the undergraduate mathematics curriculum and classroom. To this end, this article shows how one of the main goals of calculus in the life sciences, fitting parameters to data and assessing…

Articulated pedagogical and didactic strategies allow improving academic quality and strengthen individual and institutional cognitive processes such as student retention. Mathematical modelling, articulated with complementary actions, contributes to teaching and learning processes within situations that go beyond the classroom since they are…

Educational reform priorities such as emphasis on quantitative modelling (QM) have positioned undergraduate biology instructors as designers of QM experiences to engage students in authentic science practices that support the development of data-driven and evidence-based reasoning. Yet, little is known about how biology instructors adapt to the…