Characteristics and sub-skills of mathematical modeling in the mathematics curriculum for primary schools

Introduction. The article addresses the issue of targeted use of modeling in education. The purpose of the research is to clarify the characteristics and components (elementary sub-skills) of a complex skill of modeling in the contemporary mathematics primary education. Materials and Methods. The study used the following research methods: theoretical analysis of contemporary international and Russian scholarly literature on using modeling in educational process; educational action research in order to test the approach to assessment of modeling skills; methods of mathematical statistics for processing the experimental data. Results. The article presents the authors’ approach to component assessment of the complex skill of modeling (with the main focus on teaching mathematics in the primary school). Moreover, it reviews contemporary psychological and educational literature on the problem of targeted use of educational modeling, which is considered both as a means of learning and its outcome. The authors proposed a definition of modeling and identified and described its elementary sub-skills. The authors developed, described and experimentally verified the approach to component evaluation of the complex skill of modeling. Conclusions. The approach to evaluation of the complex modeling skill allows to assess the level of its development in primary schoolchildren.