Study and research courses and mathematical modelling in the natural sciences university teaching

This paper focuses on the role of mathematical modelling in first year courses of experimental sciences university degrees. Within the frame of the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic, we propose the design and implementation of «Study and Research Courses» as a new didactic device having a double purpose: making students aware of the rationale of the mathematical contents they have to learn, and connecting these contents through the study of open modelling questions that can «cover» the main contents of the official mathematical syllabi, giving a clear functionality to its contents.