Introduction of a new construct: The conceptual tool flexibility

This paper presents a new construct: the conceptual tool ‘Flexibility’. The construct was a result of an attempt to extract experiences of teaching and learning with the use of laptops. It was further developed and refined on the basis of four small-scale teaching experiments. The teaching experiments, being part of a development project in upper secondary school mathematics, investigated the use of laptops for teaching differential equations from a modeling point of view. The research was double-aimed: one objective was to conclude the project with some recommendations for the design of teaching, in the form of guidelines suitable for a wider dissemination amongst upper secondary mathematics teachers. The other main aim was to draw on the project’s experiences for theory development within a framework based on Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) and related ideas. The construction of ‘Flexibility’ served both these aims

Spin-off learning about epidemics from modelling with differential equations

This article presents a case study of students modelling epidemics with differential equation systems. The study introduces spin-off learning as a process intertwined with learning mathematics and examines the conditions for ‘spin-off’ learning to occur when modelling epidemics. Learning mathematics is conceptualised in terms of emergent modelling and models and identified by the associated progressive, horizontal and vertical mathematising in textual analysis. Signs of ‘spin-off’ learning are linked with the mathematising. Furthermore, the ‘spin-off’ learning is related to the direction of modelling being either expressive or explorative. As a result, the stratification of students’ mathematising activities and the introduction of the notion of direction served to pinpoint a variety of conditions for ‘spin-off’ learning internal to the modelling processes. In addition, the results showed the huge potential in mathematical modelling for ‘spin-off’ learning which might be realised and utilised at a societal level for preparation against new crises.publishedVersio

På tværs – men hvor meget?

Kommentar til artiklen “Tværfaglige samspil mellem matematik og historie”, MONA, 2010‑

“Dette er ikke en pibe”

Kommentar til artiklen “Ræsonnementer i folkeskolens matematikundervisning – karakterisering,initiering, identificering og vurdering af ræsonnementskompetencen”, MONA, 2010(4