Fermi problems as tasks to introduce modelling: what we know and what else we should know

Abstract

Fermi problems have been widely used in Physics teaching at university level in the United States. Multiple recommendations for use in other educational areas can be found in the literature, as the case of mathematical modeling introduction, but its presence in math classrooms has not been yet achieved. We present these problems and discuss about its definition and characteristics that make them particularly interesting for the use of mathematics in real contexts. We also review those aspects that have been investigated from the perspective of mathematics education, especially the way in which students generate mathematical models to solve them and we aim some directions that should be addressed in future research.

Keywords

• Problemas de Fermi
• modelización
• estimación
• grandes cantidades