Narrow Results

Spanish primary and secondary school curricula comprise several contents, learning outcomes and assessment criteria directly related with probability and approximate calculus. Some of them refer to situations modeled by the students, which entail not only uncertainty but also imprecision. For this reason, different techniques including fuzzy logic and fuzzy sets theory could be applied when dealing with this kind of situations in the classroom. Several teaching situations handling imprecise concepts in primary and secondary schools are suggested from a theoretical point of view. These more exible ways of reasoning could be combined with the traditional probability approach, allowing to tackle more general problems and not only those involving exact calculations or specific numerical assignments. Moreover, this type of approaches will provide the students with tools to manage imprecision as a mathematical tool in their personal life.

Little is known about the level of youth participation in voluntary services and “Other Learning Experiences” (OLE) related community service among secondary school students in Hong Kong. This study attempts to provide a preliminary descriptive overview of youth participation in volunteering and OLE related community service. A total of 1,046 secondary school students were recruited to fill in a self-administered questionnaire. This study is relevant to social workers who should be aware of the current volunteer situation in Hong Kong. Such information is an essential foundation for them to plan, organize, execute and evaluate service programs.

At ICME-14, the Topic Study Group (TSG) on the teaching and learning of geometry at the secondary school level, TSG-9, enabled participants from around the world to share research results, research projects, new developments, and updates on ongoing projects concerning geometry education at the secondary school level. The TSG embraced the four themes of connections between geometry education and mathematical practices and processes, teacher preparation and teacher knowledge for geometry, developments in geometry teaching, and curricular issues in school geometry. The discussion during the TSG sessions at the congress benefitted from the good range of quality presentations on each of the themes.

This chapter describes Singapore's participation in the international comparative study on the teaching and learning of mathematics, known as the Kassel Project. The study was a longitudinal one, and entire cohorts of Secondary 2 pupils in 1995 from seven secondary schools in Singapore participated. The study monitored the individual progress of pupils relative to groups of pupils with similar potential and initial attainment in mathematics over a period of two years. The use of the data collected was two fold. At the national level, it led to recommendations for mathematics teaching in Singapore secondary schools, and at the international level it contributed towards the international database that was used to discuss issues in mathematics curriculum, mathematics teaching and learning in the participating countries.

We have developed a one-day practical session to present microbiology and biotechnology to science secondary school students. For the last three years, this session has been attended by over 100 students each year, who were selected from High Secondary Schools from all over Catalonia. The feedback that we have received from the students has been extremely positive. Almost all of them described the session as a helpful experience for their preparation and the vast majority appreciated the opportunity to perform practical work in a microbiology laboratory.

The notion of mathematical modelling is not new; however, with the development and access to cheap, powerful calculator and computer technologies, students in schools are able to engage with sophisticated mathematical contexts that have relevance outside of the classroom, a view of mathematics not commonly held by students. From one of the workshops of modelling challenge, we analyse a conversation between a group of students as a way of providing a meaningful example of the types of conversations students have while they engage in thinking about and doing mathematical modelling.

Over the last six years in Singapore, the mathematics curriculum was revised to place emphasis on reasoning, communications and connections; applications and modelling in addition to heuristics and thinking skills as processes that encompass the implementation of the mathematics curriculum. Its implication is that even secondary school students should now be involved in works of mathematical modelling. This chapter discusses an attempt by a group of Secondary 2 students who were undergoing a four-day modelling outreach to model a floor plan of a cafe. The three emergent themes arising from the case study were: (1) the experience of creative and cooperative problem solving, (2) the learning experiences of teachers and students through mathematical modelling, and (3) the mathematical modelling as problem solving from a modelling perspective.

The prompt service of in- and out-bound flights has made Changi Airport one of the best airports in the world. This chapter showcases how modelling tasks can be woven into the rich fabric of real-life contexts, that is familiar to Singapore students.

The following sections are included:

• Introduction
• Facilitating Students' Modelling Competencies
• Significance of Study and Method
• Findings
• Discussion and Conclusion
• References

Local teachers receive little exposure to mathematical modelling (MM) and show apprehension towards this form of teaching. The aim of this chapter is to provide teachers with an illustration of what can transpire in a modelling activity, giving them a head start to MM. If teachers are well-informed about students' possible approaches to certain modelling activities, they can gain enough confidence to start conducting similar activities on their own. The task we focus here is the construction of a paper plane. Paper planes are instrumental in the process to moving on to progressively larger models of flight (for example, kites and aircrafts). What should the best paper plane be like? We report on the potentials and challenges during the modelling processes of students (aged 13–14 years old) undertaking the task.

This chapter reports a mathematical modelling task which was conducted during a 5-day Mathematical Modelling Outreach (MMO) event held in Singapore in June 2010. During the event, both primary and secondary school students in Singapore worked on various mathematical modelling activities. Students from Australia schools were also invited to take part in this mathematical modelling event. This chapter documents the mathematical modelling processes of the primary and secondary school students, as they worked on a modelling problem involving designing a 4-man tent for beach-goers. The mathematical processes were discussing, planning, experimenting and verifying.

We propose a review of the teaching of mathematics in Argentina based on the presence and evolution of problem-solving in textbooks for the secondary school. We also take into account the changes introduced by educational policies in curricular documents. The period selected (1950–2000) has significant influence on the current situation of teaching.