Phenomenology of Modeling Cycle of Grade Ninth Students in Solving an Authentic Problem

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to examine the lived experience of the modeling cycle students with using a phenomenological approach. For this purpose, a problem called "local bread and city bread" was used that designed upon 3- year experience of the first author who lived in one of the villages located in the south-eastern part of Iran. In this research, purposive sampling was used to achieve data saturation. In this study, a total of 16 ninth grade female students (8 pairs) took part. Data of this Study collected from various sources, including participant observation, student responses, dialogue between teacher and students and semi-structured interviews. These data were analyzed through interpretation. Finding of this study show that students are capable to determine real world problem and they can make a math model for real world problem. Indeed, experience of everyday life of students helps them to visualize and interpret the bread problem. So, important findings of this study are firstly lived experience of students help them to solve the modeling problem, and secondly lived experience can fill the gap between real world and mathematical world.

Keywords

• phenomenology
• authentic problem
• modeling cycle
• experience of everyday