Exploring Mathematical Modeling in Classrooms: Insights from Diverse Studies

Mathematical modeling has been a long-standing topic of discussion within the field of mathematics education and continues to hold great significance (Cai et al., 2014).The term mathematical modeling is often referred to as the goal of mathematics education, as a way to learn mathematicsepistemological modelingand as a lens to understand the real world.Of course, the words, mathematical modeling, can be discussed from sociocultural, cognitive, realistic modeling perspectives (Kaiser, 2017).Mathematical modeling has been continuously recognized as an important educational goal in mathematics subjects until now.In South Korea, mathematical modeling is officially recognized as an essential component of mathematical problemsolving competency within the 2015 revised mathematics curriculum.Consequently, mathematical modeling is given significant emphasis alongside mathematical problemsolving in Korean schools (Choi, 2017).This emphasis on mathematical modeling is not limited to a single country; it is a global phenomenon.For example, in the United States, mathematical modeling is presented as an important educational goal in the Common Core States Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM; National Governors Association Center for Best Practices Hirsch & McDuffie, 2016) also suggests several specific methods for implementing mathematical modeling in school mathematics classrooms.In addition, the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) include the mathematical modeling process in their definition of mathematical literacy (OECD, 2017).This recognition of the importance of mathematical modeling is amplified by the recent wave of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Gravemeijer et al., 2017).In contemporary society, there is a growing demand for individuals who possess new skills in response to the rapid advancement of technology.The ability to understand and solve novel problems beyond performing simple routine tasks is required (OECD, 2017).This capacity to address human problems in specific contexts is at the core of problem-solving competency.