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One thing I'll be thinking about for next year is incorporating more authentic mathematical modeling experiences into all my courses. Last year I began advising modeling teams for participation in modeling contests (like the MCM, HiMCM, and M3) and we had some terrific success this year, with a team qualifying for the International Mathematical Modeling Challenge. More exciting than the contest success, though, was seeing my students bring the applied math perspective to their in-class project work. It was eye-opening to see what they did, and I need to create space for them to do more of it.
Here's a write-up about our team's success in the school newspaper.
https://stuyspec.com/article/modeling-the-world-through-math
#math #MathEd
@phonner I have always wanted to try this with students. Any suggestions on how to start small? The HiMCM looks too daunting for a first try…
@adhestenes Yes, it can be a bit intimidating! COMAP runs a middle school modeling contest (the MidMCM), so those problems might be more accessible to start with. If you're a COMAP member (like $100 for the year) you can get access to lots of example papers and additional resources (and I bet if you just emailed them and expressed interest, they might send you some things without a membership). Going through previous winning papers was really helpful in understanding the end-product we were aiming for.
Lastly, a great place to start is the GAIMME report, free and widely available (like here: https://www.comap.com/resources/free-resources/gaimme).
@phonner @adhestenes We wrote like 8-ish modeling prompts per course in IM AGA. Each one has at least two levels depending on how much you want to scaffold. We also made some nice scoring rubrics, and the handouts have everything you need. e.g. here are the Alg 2 ones https://im.kendallhunt.com/HS/teachers/3/modeling_prompts.html
@phonner @adhestenes But the GAIMME paper is great too. That was a big influence on our process.
@adhestenes @phonner There are also ones for alg1 and geometry, you just need to navigate to those courses. And to see solutions, make a free account.
@phonner thanks so much for the ideas! Can’t wait to try this.