The Pre-service Teachers' Modelling Cycles in the Mathematical Modelling Process: The Task of Solar Energy System

This study aims to explore the modelling cycles that emerge during the pre-service teachers’ mathematical modelling activities. A case study method was employed in the research. 119 pre-service teachers who were in their fourth class participated in the research. The pre-service teachers worked in groups. So, there were a total of 28 different groups. The modelling task was posed by considering the modelling criteria. The data collection tools consisted of the pre-service teachers’ working papers. The content analysis method was applied in the data analysis. The preservice teachers created four different modelling cycles. The first consisted of 7% of the groups and was the cycles that included the pre-service teachers who could reach the real model. The second was the cycle that consisted of 68% of the groups and included the pre-service teachers who could reach the mathematical results from the real model without posing any mathematical model. The third was the cycle that consisted of 7% of the groups and included the pre-service teachers who completed the process by reaching the mathematical model. The fourth was the cycle that consisted of 18% of the groups and included the pre-service teachers who completed the modelling cycle. It was determined that the cycle in the second group occurred the most among the modelling cycles. The pre-service teachers can be supported to pass the third and fourth modelling cycles.