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Investigating the Complexity of Student Modelling by Coordinating a Diversity of Research Perspectives

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Mathematical Modelling Education and Sense-making

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Abstract

In this chapter, we present a collaborative, post hoc analysis of a pivotal episode in the work of one group of US middle-school students as they engaged in a model-eliciting activity. A central feature of this collaborative analysis was the identification and elaboration of three perspectives through iterative interpretation of video data: representations, mathematical uncertainty, and idea development. Coordinating these perspectives highlighted a cyclical pattern in the students’ progression through the modelling activity, as they encountered and managed mathematical uncertainty and expressed their developing ideas with physical materials and representations. We view this work as a researcher-level modelling effort, to synthesise independent analytical approaches, develop shared perspectives, and construct an explanatory account of the flow of students’ collective thinking as they solved a rich modelling task.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Teaching and Learning, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Corey Brady

  2. Statistics and Operations Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Jeffrey A. McLean

  3. Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Hyunyi Jung

  4. Engineering Education, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Aran W. Glancy

  5. School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico

    Angeles Dominguez

Authors
  1. Corey Brady
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  2. Jeffrey A. McLean
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  3. Hyunyi Jung
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  4. Aran W. Glancy
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  5. Angeles Dominguez
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Corey Brady .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Catholic University, Ballarat, VIC, Australia

    Gloria Ann Stillman

  2. Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Christine Erna Lampen

  3. University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Gabriele Kaiser

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Brady, C., McLean, J.A., Jung, H., Glancy, A.W., Dominguez, A. (2020). Investigating the Complexity of Student Modelling by Coordinating a Diversity of Research Perspectives. In: Stillman, G.A., Kaiser, G., Lampen, C.E. (eds) Mathematical Modelling Education and Sense-making. International Perspectives on the Teaching and Learning of Mathematical Modelling. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37673-4_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37673-4_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-37672-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-37673-4

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

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