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Joy of Mathematical Modelling: A Forgotten Perspective?

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Mathematical Modelling Education and Sense-making

Abstract

We argue the relevance of including an affective perspective in the mathematical modelling education research and emphasise its importance for the teaching and learning of mathematical modelling at all levels, especially at the university. Our argument is supported by a recent survey of mathematics lecturers’ views on mathematical modelling, several follow-up interviews, and a review of literature on mathematical modelling that relates to enjoyment, pleasure, and appreciation. Findings from the survey and the follow-up interviews indicate that there is a group of practitioners who hold strong views on the importance of enjoyment in doing and teaching mathematical modelling.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We also surveyed English lecturers where results and findings were similar. However, the data collection was delayed so that the analyses could not be included in Treffert-Thomas et al. (2017).

  2. 2.

    Giuseppe Astarita, an Italian architect and engineer of the late-Baroque or Rococo period.

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Acknowledgement

Research presented in this chapter was supported by a MatRIC (www.matric.no) small research award, project number 170804. The authors wholeheartedly express their gratitude to Dr. Paul Hernandez-Martinez of Swinburne University of Technology who equally contributed to this chapter and whose name, unfortunately, could not appear on the title page due to ICTMA’s chapter limit.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway

    Yuriy Rogovchenko & Olov Viirman

  2. Mathematics Education Centre, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

    Stephanie Treffert-Thomas

Authors
  1. Yuriy Rogovchenko
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  2. Olov Viirman
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  3. Stephanie Treffert-Thomas
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Correspondence to Yuriy Rogovchenko .

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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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Rogovchenko, Y., Viirman, O., Treffert-Thomas, S. (2020). Joy of Mathematical Modelling: A Forgotten Perspective?. 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_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37673-4_9

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