The ecological dimension in the teaching of mathematics at university level

Recent research on the teaching and learning of mathematical
modelling highlights the existence of strong institutional constraints impinging
on the large-scale dissemination of mathematics as a modelling activity in
current educational systems at all school levels. The study of these constraints
and the way new teaching proposals can overcome these, what we call the
ecology of modelling, appears as a necessary step for mathematics education
research. Within the framework of the anthropological theory of the didactic,
the hierarchy of levels of didactic codetermination is used to identify and
analyse this ecology, not only to deal with the variety of constraints appearing
in classroom activities, but mainly to know at what level action is necessary.
A teaching proposal in terms of study and research paths in tertiary education
shows new possibilities to overcome some of the constraints that hinder the
development of mathematics as a modelling activity.