Dr. Elizabeth Burroughs (Dept. of Mathematical Sciences, MSU) 

09/02/2021  3:10pm

Abstract: 

Mathematical modeling requires students to understand the ideas and perspectives of others. It is in seeking to understand others’ points of view that human beings engage in empathy. One role of education is to teach students critical thinking skills, and teaching modeling provides the opportunity to teach empathetic critical thinking skills. Modeling provides a way for issues to be understood beyond right or wrong, and beyond even “agree to disagree.” Modeling provides a way for students—human beings—to use their mathematical skills to examine different solutions to authentic problems based on different perspectives. The modeler emerges from the modeling process knowing that different perspectives of a problem highlight different points of view that different people hold. A complex problem doesn’t have a right or wrong answer; instead it has a problem statement and a proposed solution that capture something important about what another human being values.

 

I will share four Big Ideas that ground the teaching of mathematical modeling and discuss examples that engage students in adopting a modeling perspective.