Elementary Teachers’ Enactment of the Core Practices in Problem Formulation through Situational Contexts in Mathematical Modeling

Problem formulation is one of the critical first steps in mathematical modeling (MM). This important step requires modelers to identify a problem that requires modeling. Our chapter examines how elementary teachers and students learn to be problem posers as they learn to enact mathematical modeling in their own classrooms. We collected data from teachers implementing MM in their classroom starting from their planning process to the enactment phases of mathematical modeling tasks. Data was collected from lesson studies and teacher interviews exploring the processes of mathematical modeling. We focused on better understanding how teachers involve elementary students in the problem formulation process as they co-construct the problem and how they work through making assumptions, building a solution or a model, and revising their model as they relate back to their problems. We also analyzed the context in which the problem formulation occurred: community-based, school-based, or curriculum-based contexts and how it impacted authentic learning.