Mathematical Modelling in China: How It Is Described and Required in Mathematical Curricula and What Is the Status of Students’ Performance on Modelling Tasks

This chapter starts with a review of the mathematical modelling competency in mathematics curricula all over the world and puts its emphasis on the development and promotion of mathematical modelling competency in China’s mathematical curricula through analysing the curricular standards or syllabi from 1902 to 2018. Moreover, an investigation of students’ modelling competency was conducted to 1359 eighth-grade students from five cities located in the south-western, south-eastern, eastern, north-western, and midland regions of China. With the students’ paperwork on three modelling tasks, the chapter reports to which stage of modelling cycle the students achieved to represent their modelling competency. The results show an increasing attention to the promotion of mathematical modelling in the development of mathematics curriculum in China. The students were still used to a problem-solving process rather than modelling. There were significant differences at the individual level, but not the school or district level when considering their modelling competency.