An investigation into pre-service teachers mathematical behaviour in an application and modelling context

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the hypothetical view that the use of familiar social institutions in the formulation of mathematical problems by mathematics pre-service teachers will enable them to find solutions to problems by taking meaning, context and realities of a problem into consideration. The approach to investigate this hypothetical view was to describe the mathematical behaviour of pre-service teachers in an application and modelling context. This study, therefore, described the strategies used to arrive at solutions for problems from real life situations that are familiar to the participants.