An analysis of elementary school students’ types of dealing with the context of task in individual and group mathematical modeling

The primary goal of mathematics education is to help students to develop their ability to deal with the context of mathematical modeling tasks in an integrated way.This is because mathematical modeling requires the integration of both realistic and mathematical factors to solve problems.For teachers to identify each student's type and provide appropriate scaffolding, it is essential to understand the factors that promote a shift toward the integrating type.Thus, this study analyzed factors influencing changes in types of dealing with the context of task in sixth-grade students' mathematical modeling.A qualitative research methodology was employed using student worksheets, video recordings, transcription data, researcher's observation notes, and student interview data.The results revealed that group modeling activities resulted in a higher proportion of integrating type compared to individual activities.Furthermore, when students solved the main task again after the group activity, the integrating type has become the most common and the number of students in this category increased significantly compared to the first attempt.Based on these results, this study provides pedagogical implications for encouraging students to consider both the realistic and mathematical aspects of task contexts and process them in an integrated way during mathematical modeling activities.