The use of modelling in the learning of differential equations in an economics course.

This study examines the experience of using an open-ended modelling problem to introduce economics students to the mathematical subject of differential equations. We show the potential of such an approach in motivating students whilst at the same time helping them construct a new differential equations Schema that is coordinated with their developing understanding of economics. In a classroom context of collaborative group work, general class discussions and carefully chosen homework exercises, students showed that they could develop an interest in the relation between mathematics, specifically differential equations, and economics, and 'discover' uses of mathematics that are new to them whilst modelling the economics problem of diffusion of an innovation. Students were able to anticipate important mathematical ideas, like the phase plane qualitative analysis of dynamical systems, on their own. This was accompanied by activities that formalized the mathematical aspects of the course as students developed them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]