Abstract

(Objective)  The objective of this research was to analyze the types of transitions in a modeling cycle that Chilean students performed in an interdisciplinary mathematical modeling task.

(Methodology)   To achieve this objective, a qualitative methodology was used, consisting of a case study in which a mathematical modeling task, based on the Blum-Borromeo modeling cycle, was implemented with 5 high school students from a private school in Chile. The task design incorporated components present in the curricula of History, Geography and Social Sciences, and Mathematics, and the four competencies proposed by OECD in terms of Financial Education.

(Results)  As a result of the research, it was found that students made 3 types of transitions in the modeling cycle, which were related to their level of financial literacy: the first transit, based on adjustments from the actual model; the second transit, based on adjustments from the actual results; and the third transit, based on adjustments from the actual model and the actual results. Based on these results, a discussion of students' literacy levels is presented.

(Conclusions)  It was concluded that modeling tasks such as those discussed here are suitable environments for developing students' levels of financial literacy.

Keywords: Financial literacy; interdisciplinary; mathematical modeling.