Education to Cultivate Problem Solving Abilities by Mathematical Modelling

Abstract

The demand for quality assurance of university education suitable for today’s knowledge-based society is increasing from various directions. According to the 2012 conference of the Central Council of Education report, the structure of society has undergone a major transformation, and values have been under review fundamentally. In order to live in such times and contribute to society, when we encounter unexpected situations, we need to have the ability to discover the existing problems and to identify the path to solve them. Universities have to develop education curricula to aid students in confronting real world challenges in the future. However, the current state of mathematics education in universities is not sufficiently developed for liberal arts curricula in particular. Mathematics education does not teach mathematical literacy to liberal arts students at the university level. Universities are therefore now being instructed to foster problemsolving abilities as mathematical literacy. Mathematical modelling is a method of problem solving in mathematics. This research extends the mathematical modelling based on previous research, and proposes how students need to be educated to recognize the role the mathematical ability plays in society and apply it to real world problems. I want to develop mathematics education especially at the first year experience and general education course in university. This research concerns the practice of mathematics education intended to develop the problem-solving ability of liberal arts college students.