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Blending theoretical constructs and practical considerations, this book explores the vital trend toward using real-world problems as a basis for teaching mathematics skills, competencies, and applications. It presents papers from the 2009 ICTMA conference.

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As we enter the 21st century, there is an urgent need for new approaches to mathematics education emphasizing its relevance in young learners´ futures. Modeling Students´ Mathematical Modeling Competencies explores the vital trend toward using real-world problems as a basis for teaching mathematics skills, competencies, and applications. Blending theoretical constructs and practical considerations, the book presents papers from the latest conference of the ICTMA, beginning with the basics (Why are models necessary? Where can we find them?) and moving through intricate concepts of how students perceive math, how instructors teach-and how both can become better learners. Dispatches as varied as classroom case studies, analyses of math in engineering work, and an in-depth review of modeling-based curricula in the Netherlands illustrate modeling activities on the job, methods of overcoming math resistance, and the movement toward replicable models and lifelong engagement.

A sampling of topics covered:

How students recognize the usefulness of mathematics

Creating the modeling-oriented classroom

Assessing and evaluating students´ modeling capabilities

The relationship between modeling and problem-solving

Instructor methods for developing their own models of modeling

New technologies for modeling in the classroom

Modeling Students´ Mathematical Modeling Competencies offers welcome clarity and focus to the international research and professional community in mathematics, science, and engineering education, as well as those involved in the sciences of teaching and learning these subjects.

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