ROTAS DE ALUNOS NO DESENVOLVIMENTO DE ATIVIDADES DE MODELAGEM MATEMÁTICA

Abstract

In this dissertation, we acknowledge Mathematical Modeling as a pedagogical alternative that focuses on the phenomenon of reality, not necessarily mathematics, but from a mathematical approach, this situation can be suggested either by the teacher or the students. This way of understanding mathematical modeling favors the discussion of problems from diverse contexts as mathematical lenses that contributes to students' critical thinking on a variety of aspects associated with the situation from where the problem originated, on mathematical concepts and knowledge, and also about the acceptance of the obtained solutions. The articulation between knowledge about the study and mathematical acknowledgement is an emerging aspect of the development of activities of mathematical modeling and for this reason, we are interested in the following investigation: What is revealed from the student's mathematical modeling routes? The look at the student's individual routes throughout development activities of mathematical modeling is carried out with the objective of revealing what the routes are shown. To this end, our attention turns to the cognitive actions (individually) of four students from an 8th-grade school class in the province of Parana, which, in the Maths lessons, developed as the other students in the class, mathematical modeling activities under the teacher's supervision. The cognitive actions identified by these students have enabled us to build their routes of mathematical modeling and is from them that we weave our interferences. Our research is, therefore, empirical and our methodological option follows the principles of a qualitative approach. The data used in the analysis were produced throughout ten Maths lessons, which were recorded using voice recording. The transcriptions of the recordings of the lessons where the students developed mathematical modeling, the written records and the photos represent the material of analysis. From the analysis, we infer that the student's routes of mathematical modeling testify that, even though their routes are individual, they carry characteristics of the debate held within the small group or with the whole class. We also weighed up that the routes symbolize coming and going movements between the characteristic elements from the mathematical modeling: Situation-problem, Mathematics, investigative process, and interpretative analysis. In other words, the students have different cognitive actions associated with the same characteristic element and, a few times, change from one to another element when there is internal interference, from another group's colleague, or even the teacher. Therefore, in mathematical modeling activities, the student's routes are different, even when what is in question, is the solution to the same problem.