Abstract:

By analysing the reality that surrounds us, we realize the presence of mathematics in our daily life problems. Undoubtedly, mathematics is a science that allows us to respond to various situations of our daily life, which are good starting points for teaching mathematical concepts.
Mathematical modelling is a methodology that considers real problems, preferably of a reality close to the student, proceeds to its simplification and adaptation, leading to the elaboration of a model that will solve the given problem. Students are invited to problematize and analyse situations from other areas of knowledge, connecting them to mathematics in a truly multidisciplinary context. In addition to allowing students to solve real problems, mathematical modelling motivates them to learn by developing their critical spirit.

In order to assess whether teachers are familiar with this methodology and whether they use it in their professional practice, a study was carried out with the following research question: "Do pre-service and in-service teachers of first years education use mathematical modelling in their teaching practices? And in what context?"

An anonymous survey was made available in Google docs in order to reach the largest number of teachers possible. At that point, data were collected and processed through Excel sheets and SPSS application software. The data were organised, accounted and related, following a qualitative, descriptive and interpretive methodology.

In a preliminary phase of the study, 16 teachers of first years basic education answered. We found out that 62.5% do not know this methodology, 25% have a vague idea, and only 12.5% use it. The fact that 87.5% of the teacher participants had never been in contact with this topic during their teaching training may explain their ignorance of the subject, although they consider it advantageous for students' learning. It should be noted that 81.3% of participants use real-life problems to approach mathematical content; however, they do not truly apply mathematical modelling.

Thus, we concluded that there is still a long way to go when it comes to the implementation of mathematical modelling in a classroom context as well as taking action in the training of teachers, so that they feel free to use it with their students.

Keywords:

Mathematical modelling, learning, problem solving, pre-service and in-service teachers.