Skip to main content

Difficulties in Teaching Modelling: A French-Spanish Exploration

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

An exploratory research study based on an online questionnaire in order to better understand difficulties encountered in teaching of mathematical modelling in France and Spain is presented. This questionnaire takes into account biographical variables, mathematics and modelling conceptions of pre-service teachers, teachers, researchers and education inspectors, from primary to tertiary education. Regarding difficulties, heterogeneous conceptions are revealed, and the analysis constructs four clusters, from positive and confident conceptions to negative and lacking confidence. In some cases, the roles of some biographical variables are indicated such as country, age, gender or school level that need to be clarified by future semi-structured interviews in order to offer training and resources in response to the expressed difficulties.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borromeo Ferri, R., & Blum, W. (2013). Barriers and motivations of primary teachers implementing modelling in mathematical lessons. In B. Ubuz, Ç. Haser, & M. A. Mariotti (Eds.), Proceedings of the eighth congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (pp. 1000–1010). Ankara: Middle East Technical University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabassut, R. (2007). Examples of comparative methods in the teaching of mathematics in France and in Germany. In D. Pitta-Pantazi & G. Pilippou (Eds.), Proceedings of the fifth congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (pp. 2423–2432). Larnaca: University of Cyprus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabassut, R., & Ferrando, I. (2015). Conceptions in France about mathematical modelling: Exploratory research with design of semi-structured interviews. In K. Krainer & N. Vondrová (Eds.), Proceedings of 9th congress of European Society for Research in Mathematics Education. Prague: Charles University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabassut, R., & Mousoulides, N. (2009). Theoretical considerations for designing and implementing a teacher training course on mathematical modeling: Insights from a French-Cypriot comparison. In Gagatsis et al. (Eds.), Cyprus and France research in mathematics education. Lefkosia: University of Cyprus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabassut, R., & Villette, J.-P. (2011). Exploratory data analysis of a European teacher training course on modelling. In M. Pytlak, E. Swoboda, & T. Rowland (Eds.), Proceedings of the seventh congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (pp. 1565–1575). Rzeszów: University of Rzeszów.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorier, J.-L., & Garcia, J. G. (2013). Challenges and opportunities for the implementation of inquiry-based learning in day-to-day teaching. ZDM Mathematics Education, 45(6), 837–849.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engeln, K., Euler, M., & Maaβ, K. (2013). Inquiry-based learning in mathematics and science: A comparative study of teacher’ beliefs and practices across 12 European countries. ZDM Mathematics Education, 45(6), 823–836.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser, G. (2006). The mathematical beliefs of teachers about applications and modelling. In J. Novotná, H. Moraová, M. Krátká, & N. Stehlíková (Eds.), Mathematics in the centre, proceedings of the 30th conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 3, pp. 393–400). Charles University, Prague: PME.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuntze, S. (2011). In-service and prospective teachers’ views about modelling tasks in the mathematics classroom – Results of a quantitative empirical study. In G. Kaiser, W. Blum, R. Borromeo Ferri, & G. Stillman (Eds.), Trends in teaching and learning of mathematical modelling (pp. 279–288). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, J.-E. (2012). Prospective elementary teachers’ perceptions of real-life connections reflected in posing and evaluating story problems. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 15(6), 429–452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maaß, K., & Gurlitt, J. (2009). Designing a teacher-questionnaire to evaluate professional development about modelling. In V. Durand-Guerrier, S. Soury-Lavergne, & F. Arzarello (Eds.), Proceedings of 6th congress of European society for Research in Mathematics Education (pp. 2056–2065). Lyon: University of Lyon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministère. (2015). Circulaire de rentrée 2015, Bulletin officiel de l'éducation nationle (BOEN), 23 (Vol. 2). Paris: Ministère de l’éducation nationale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mischo, C., & Maaß, K. (2013). The effect of teacher beliefs on student competence in mathematical modeling-an intervention study. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 1(1), 19–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Philipp, R. P. (2007). Mathematics teachers’ beliefs and affect. In F. K. Lester (Ed.), Second handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning: A project of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (Vol. 1, pp. 257–317). Charlotte: Information Age.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, B. (2011). Modelling in the classroom: Obstacles from the teacher’s perspective. In G. Kaiser, W. Blum, R. Borromeo Ferri, & G. Stillman (Eds.), Trends in teaching and learning of mathematical modelling (pp. 641–652). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Tukey, J. (1977). Exploratory data analysis. Reading: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

This research is funded by the University of Strasbourg and the IDEX mission, the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad under research EDU2012-35638 project and also Generalitat Valenciana through project GV2016-129.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard Cabassut .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Cabassut, R., Ferrando, I. (2017). Difficulties in Teaching Modelling: A French-Spanish Exploration. In: Stillman, G., Blum, W., Kaiser, G. (eds) Mathematical Modelling and Applications. International Perspectives on the Teaching and Learning of Mathematical Modelling. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62968-1_19

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62968-1_19

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62967-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62968-1

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics