Research Article

Proposal for Teaching Mathematical Modelling Using COVID-19 as an Example of an Infectious Disease Epidemic: The Case of Japan in the Corona Vortex

Yuki Sawada 1 *
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1 Faculty of Advanced Science and Technology, Ryukoku University, Otsu, Shiga, JAPAN* Corresponding Author
Contemporary Mathematics and Science Education, 3(2), July 2022, ep22017, https://doi.org/10.30935/conmaths/12363
Published: 15 August 2022
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ABSTRACT

Someone with a mathematical background can understand that if a virus such as COVID-19 enters a country, it will increase exponentially and cause a pandemic. Are students watching daily news reports with this level of sensibility? It is not difficult for students already familiar with differential and integral calculus to use the susceptible-infected-recovered or removed model to predict the number of new infections and determine the effect of self-restraint. Current education practices emphasize the memorization of concepts. When confronted with unknown difficulties such as COVID-19, it is important to develop teaching materials that, rather than frightening and emotionally discouraging students, enable them to utilize their previous knowledge, confront the difficulties, and explore the significance of mathematics education. This study provides example mathematical modelling material. Students learned mathematical modelling using the example of the number of new infections in Japan’s first wave of COVID-19. A survey was conducted before and after instruction which revealed that students in Japan are not being taught how to build mathematical models, and teaching using mathematical models can be used successfully to help students learn construction of mathematical disease models and also about exponential change.
Keywords: mathematical modelling, SIR model, differential equation, COVID-19

CITATION (APA)

Sawada, Y. (2022). Proposal for Teaching Mathematical Modelling Using COVID-19 as an Example of an Infectious Disease Epidemic: The Case of Japan in the Corona Vortex. Contemporary Mathematics and Science Education, 3(2), ep22017. https://doi.org/10.30935/conmaths/12363

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