Using a Mathematical Modelling Activity to Assist Students to Make Sense of a Limit Theorem in Trigonometry

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether mathematical modelling, interpreted as a series of interactive translations, can also be effective to assist students to construct mathematical knowledge. We describe a series of possible teaching activities in which the theorem of a limit of a trigonometric function can be approached through solving a real-world problem how to determine the shortest air route between two cities. In this way, we show that these transformations have the potential to build up mathematical concepts. These findings are intended to form a framework for subsequent experimental teaching.