A study with prospective teachers without prior mathematical modeling experience sheds light on how their newly developed conceptual understanding of modeling manifested itself in their work on the final task of a modeling module within a pedagogy course in secondary mathematics curriculum and assessment. The main purpose of the module was to…

This article reports on a "post hoc" study using a randomised controlled trial with 31,842 students in the Netherlands and an instrument consisting of 21 paired problems. The trial showed a variability in the differences of students' results in solving contextual mathematical problems with either a descriptive or a depictive…

The purpose of this study was to introduce a rubric named "Rubric for the Assessment of Modeling Skills" for assessing cognitive modeling skills and explaining the rubric's development process. The dimensions of the rubric are understanding the problem, simplifying, mathematizing, working mathematically, interpreting and validating.…

Introductory chemistry students encounter the concept of hybrid orbitals as a transition from atomic orbitals to molecular bonding. The principal purpose of learning hybridization in the undergraduate curriculum is to impart an understanding of the origins of molecular bonding and geometry. Physical models of both individual hybrid orbitals and…

The teaching and learning of mathematical modelling is an important research field all over the world. In this paper we present a survey of the state-of-the-art on empirical studies in this field. We analyse the development of studies focusing on cognitive aspects of the promotion of modelling, i.e. the promotion of modelling abilities resp.…

Based on a teaching intervention with modelling activities involving experimental work in 9th grade classes, the goal of this study is to find out how students estimate the credibility a modelling task setting when it integrates a hands-on experimental approach. The theoretical background is based on the concept of authenticity and its long…

This dissertation reports the research methodology and findings of three studies focused on mathematical modeling as a structured problem-solving process where the student translates relevant details from a situation, event, or phenomena in daily life into mathematical language with mathematically-defined structures and operations, which form the…

This study aims to produce a learning trajectory using the mathematical modeling in helping students to understand the concept of algebraic operations. Therefore, the design research was chosen to meet the research aims and to give in formulating and developing local instructional theory in learning algebraic operations. Learning trajectory…

Based on an investigation of research literature on the role of mathematics within the context of STEM education and twenty-first century skills, this explorative study presents and analyses 19 pre-service teachers' lesson proposals for innovative STEM activities in secondary mathematics classrooms. Drawing on a categorisation of twenty-first…

Many engineering subjects rely on the interpretation of symbolic, numeric and graphic representations. Engineering students have challenges pertaining to their mathematical understanding of their actions with a computer algebra system (CAS). We investigated how a mathematical modelling task could mediate varied levels of mathematical…

The purpose of this research was to describe the positions and causes of students' errors in algebraic thinking based on the cognitive style. This study was qualitative research with subject consisting of twelve students. The results showed that (1) students with Field Independent type tended to make errors at the stage of comprehension,…

In this paper we display an example of how educational software Geogebra can be used as a tool for the STEM education. Geogebra is used in the process of introducing students in high school to mathematical models of materials science. Scientific results from materials science experiments were used for mathematical modelling and learning about the…

Knowing an equation has a unique solution is important from both a modelling and theoretical point of view. For over 70 years, the approach to learning and teaching "well posedness" of initial value problems (IVPs) for second- and higher-order ordinary differential equations has involved transforming the problem and its analysis to a…

This article explores the process of finding the Fermat point for a triangle ABC in three dimensions. Three examples are presented in detail using geometrical methods. A delightfully simple general method is then presented that requires only the comparison of coordinates of the vertices A, B and C.

Teaching about wave structure and function is a critical element of any physical science curriculum and supported by "Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)" PS4: Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer. To support students' learning of these ideas, teachers often rely on developing graphic models of a…