Some Reflections on the Teaching of Mathematical Modeling

Abstract

This paper offers some reflections on the difficulties of teaching mathematical modeling to students taking higher education courses in which modeling plays a significant role. In the author’s experience, other aspects of the model development process often cause problems rather than the use of mathematics. Since these other aspects involve students in learning about and understanding complex problem situations the author conjectures that problems arise because insufficient time within mathematical modeling modules is spent reflecting on student work and enabling “learning to learn” about problem situations. Some suggestions for the content and delivery of mathematical modeling modules are given.