This scoping literature review characterizes research on mathematical modelling in pre-service teacher education. In recent years, mathematical modelling has been increasingly recognized as an important competency and included in curricula throughout the world, such as in Germany, Norway, Singapore, the United States, and Canada. However, despite a robust and growing literature on modelling in mathematics education, no single framework or set of competencies defines the process or product of mathematical modelling.

There is, however, a general consensus that it entails a connection to real-world phenomena, distinct phases (e.g., real world situations, mathematical representations, etc.), and certain processes or sub-competencies (e.g., mathematizing, validating, etc.) (see Borromeo Ferri, 2006). As described by Niss & Blum (2015), these phases and sub-competencies comprise what is called the modelling cycle, which can be executed in part or whole, and can be enacted by learners in varied ways. One characteristic common to nearly all interpretations of mathematical modelling is the need for recursion between a real-world situation and the domain of mathematics. Unlike a traditional word problem, in which all of the necessary information is provided and the objective is often procedural application, a modelling problem requires assumptions to be made, models to be developed based on those assumptions, and the results of those models to be interpreted in real contexts.

In this scoping review, we contribute alongside existing reviews in this research area (Cevikbas, 2022; Krawitz et al., 2025) to a robust characterization of the field by focusing specifically on research on mathematical modelling conducted with pre-service teachers (PSTs). Our interest in PSTs lies in the notion that their dual roles as learners of both mathematics and pedagogy distinguish them from other groups, such as children or in-service teachers. A scoping review of this sub-field of modelling research represents a gap in the existing literature. Speaking to this need, in identifying a limitation of their recent review, Krawitz et al. (2025) noted that by focusing on early years up to secondary education, they “emphasized the learning of mathematical modelling rather than the teaching of it” and suggested that “future research should explore whether perspectives on modelling differ between learning and teaching contexts” (p. 206). We argue that PSTs, especially those learning to teach in primary classrooms, are in fact a unique group, especially with respect to modelling. Given the importance of learning and teaching modelling, and the unique characteristics of PSTs as learners and teachers of modelling, we intend this review to describe the relevant research literature and to support further research on modelling in the context of teacher education.

The overarching research question guiding this scoping review is: What characterizes the research on mathematical modelling in pre-service teacher education? Specifically, we address the following sub-questions:

i. What are some general characteristics (e.g., geographic, study size, etc.) of the research on mathematical modelling in pre-service teacher education?

ii. Which modelling perspectives (goals and task characteristics) are represented in the research?

iii. Which competencies for teaching mathematical modelling are taken up in the research?

iv. How is the literature on mathematical modelling in preservice teacher education conceptually organized?

To answer these questions, we analyzed data generated through a scoping review (Tricco et al., 2018) of empirical research on mathematical modelling in pre-service teacher education. In our poster, we describe the conceptual framework we used to orient our analysis of 87 research studies published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals. Modelling has a long, rich, and varied tradition in mathematics education research, especially in Europe, and in articulating our conceptual orientation, we elaborate on some of the different perspectives that comprise the field and guide our review.

We adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) to conduct our literature search (Tricco et al., 2018). We identified pre-service teachers as the relevant population, mathematical modelling as the relevant concept, and teacher training as the relevant context. We conducted our search on five databases, including Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Education Research Complete, British Education Index, Australian Education Index, and Education Database. Searches on all five databases were conducted on March 27, 2025. Our searches generated a total of 1670 studies and 374 duplicate studies were removed prior to screening, leaving 1296 studies. The authors and one research assistant used pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria (described in the poster) and the protocol developed by Polanin (2020) for systematic reviews to screen the abstracts and titles of the remaining 1296 studies. After eliminating 1155 studies, the two authors conducted full text reviews of the remaining 141 studies and excluded an additional 54, resulting in a total of 87 studies to be included in the scoping review.

Our findings reveal a field that has expanded rapidly in scope, scale, and diversity over the past decade. This growth suggests that mathematical modelling has increasingly become a priority in pre-service teacher education. A predominance of small-scale qualitative studies focused on university coursework indicates that the field remains largely exploratory and practice-oriented, emphasizing the process of learning to teach modelling rather than large-scale program evaluation. Moreover, the limited number of studies involving children, in-service teachers, or practicum contexts highlights a persistent gap between preservice coursework and authentic classroom implementation. With respect to modelling perspectives, which we use as an analytical framework for interpreting our results, we note that the emergence of mathematical modelling with PST’s likely grew out of foundational work on the competencies for teaching mathematical modelling (Borromeo Ferri & Blum, 2010; Borromeo Ferri, 2013; 2018). Within this body of work, new trends have emerged. For example, while most studies still align with educational and pedagogical modelling perspectives, research situated in a sociocritical perspective has recently emerged. We see this is as an important development for several reasons. One is that sociocritical issues, such as those that focus on equity, power dynamics, sustainability, and so on, compound the demands of learning to teach mathematical modelling. We argue modelling can be used to educate and empower students to act on important real-world phenomena. However, Steffensen & Kasari (2023) noted that “when there are additional expectations to address socio–political issues, more pedagogical challenges may emerge as teaching becomes more uncertain” (p. 2). We suggest that as a sociocritical perspective continues to become more prominent, researchers should consider explicitly positioning PSTs as teachers of both modelling and appropriate sociocritical competences (e.g., Bulut & Borromeo Ferri, 2025).

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