23 March 2018: Seminar by Professor Gabriele Kaiser, University of Hamburg “Mathematical modelling competences: meaning, teaching and assessment”
Abstract: The lecture will start with a description of the state-of-the-art on the meaning and conceptualisation of modelling competencies as well as on the ways of learning and teaching of modelling competencies at different educational levels. Afterwards, modelling activities, which are adequate to foster modelling competencies, will be described, especially experiences from longer activities such as modelling weeks with students from upper secondary level (age 17-19). Several authentic examples dealt with in these modelling weeks will be discussed, e.g. optimal automatic irrigation of a garden, development of infected ladybugs, optimal chlorination of a swimming pool. The talk will finish with the description of the results of an evaluation of one recently carried out modelling activities, in which the development of modelling competencies of the students were evaluated based on an adapted version of a well-known questionnaire. The results show the possibility to foster modelling competencies with extended modelling activities and complex modelling examples.
Bio: Gabriele Kaiser is full professor of mathematics education at the Faculty of Education of the University of Hamburg since 1998. Her areas of research are empirical studies on teacher education and teachers’ professionalism, modelling and applications in school, international comparative studies, gender and cultural aspects in mathematics education. Since 2005 she serves as Editor-in-chief of ZDM Mathematics Education (formerly Zentralblatt fuer Didaktik der Mathematik), published by Springer. She was Convenor of the 13th International Congress on Mathematics Education (ICME-13), which took place in July 2016 at the University of Hamburg with 3,500 participants from all over the world. Since 2017 she is professorial fellow at the Learning Sciences Institute of the Australian Catholic University, Brisbane.
