Students' approaches concerning model validation and model improvement when solving modelling tasks with experiments

Sebastian Geisler (1)

1 University of Hildesheim

Mathematical modelling is important yet challenging. Especially the validation step is a hurdle for many students. One approach, discussed in the literature, for fostering students' validation competence is to use modelling tasks that use data gathered in experiments. Analyzing the validation of 71 students in two modelling tasks with experiments, we found that many students struggle with validation. In particular, most students seem to put more trust in their model than in their experimental data and therefore suggest to improve experiments instead of working on an alternative model. Stimulated recall interviews show that students' lack of mathematical knowledge as well as a lack of understanding of the relation between data and model can be the reasons for these findings.

Mots clés: Experiments; mathematical modelling; model-validation

Domaines: Mathématiques [math]

Sebastian Geisler. Students' approaches concerning model validation and model improvement when solving modelling tasks with experiments. Twelfth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME12), Feb 2022, Bozen-Bolzano, Italy. ⟨hal-03759004⟩