Rina Durandt

• Doctor of Education
• Senior Lecturer at University of the Witwatersrand

Investigating the transition between the secondary and the tertiary levels is a main theme in mathematics and science education. More so, this paper considers the transition that intersects with the after-effects of COVID-19, or the transition together with an educational context dominated by sociocultural differences and educational disadvantages....

This chapter reports on results from the project CoSTAMM (Comparative Studies into Teaching Approaches for Mathematical Modelling). A modelling unit was implemented in 2022 at a public university in South Africa in a second-year chemistry class with 42 participants following an independence-oriented teaching design. The same unit had been implement...

This paper reports on empirical results from a study that investigated first-year mathematics students’ preparedness for, and response to, online learning. With the appearance of COVID-19 in 2020, lecturers were forced to make sudden changes to the established face-to-face learning environments, and students were expected to adapt to these changes....

This article reports on the empirical results and practical aspects concerning the teaching and learning of first-year engineering mathematics at a distance. The investigation over two consecutive years (2020 and 2021) is meant to yield prospects and contribute to the development of suitable pedagogies for online mathematics teaching and learning f...

This paper reports on empirical results about the influence of two different teaching designs on the development of tertiary students’ modelling competency and attitudes towards modelling. A total of 144 first year engineering students were exposed to a diagnostic entrance test, a modelling unit consisting of five lessons with ten tasks, enframed b...

Este artículo está orientado a la práctica e informa sobre una unidad de modelización matemática desarrollada específicamente para estudiantes de primer año de ingeniería en un contexto sudafricano. La idea principal de la unidad era fomentar el desarrollo de la competencia de modelización matemática de los estudiantes. Esta idea apoya un objetivo...

The focus of this research was on the role of ICTs in collaboration amongst teachers in five secondary mathematics departments. Data was collected through an online form, which was largely defined from a previously utilized social network survey for educators from North Western University, and analyzed through a social network analysis method. Resu...

This article sets out design principles to consider when student mathematics teachers are expected to learn mathematical modelling during their formal education. Blum and Leiß’s modelling cycle provided the theoretical framework to explain the modelling process. Learning to teach mathematical modelling, and learning to solve modelling tasks, while...

This chapter reports on empirical results about the influence of two different teachingTeaching designs on the development of engineering mathematics students’ modelling competencyModelling competency. 144 first-year students were exposed to a modelling unit (entrance test, pre-test, five lessons with ten tasksTasks, post-test) following two teachi...

This article reports on third-year mathematics students’ competency and sub-competency development through providing intentional support in the learning of mathematical modelling. Students oftenexperience modelling as difficult, and obstructions in the modelling process can lead to a dead end. Literature reports confirm that the modelling task is c...

This chapter reports on the sense-making of pre-service teachers in and about mathematical modelling by means of a well-planned design-based research strategy over a period of two iterations. Modelling, and the teaching thereof, is mostly difficult for teachers, but it can be learnt through the development of mathematical, modelling and facilitator...

Modelling, as a problem solving strategy forms part of the South African mathematics secondary school curriculum since 2011. In many instances, mathematics teachers are incapacitated to teach modelling effectively, although literature also reveals the opposite. This study reports on the convictions (beliefs) and mindset (attitude) of prospective ma...

In this study, we firstly investigate the attitudinal differences towards statistics between students (from a developing country) in service module and mainstream courses; and, secondly, differences in their attitudes over time, at the beginning and at the end of these courses. Knowledge regarding descriptive and inferential statistics are required...

This chapter reports on the thinking and planning strategies of a group of 38 third year mathematics student teachers (preparing to teach Grades 10–12), who were exposed to mathematical modelling for the first time. Participants, in eight comparable groups, attempted a textbook-based traffic flow model-eliciting activity. The open-ended nature of t...

This paper interrogates the thinking and planning strategies of Mathematics student teachers, when faced with a mathematical modelling challenge for the very first time. Mathematical modelling is the process of generating mathematical representations in attempting to solve real life problems. Modelling has the proven ability to develop learners’ re...