Mathematics and sexual education through linear equations modeling

Abstract

Sexual education in Chile is the least developed one in Latin America since 2008 to 2015 (Hunt, Monterrosas
& Mimbela, 2015) which is why it is desirable to generate innovations from every discipline. That is the purpose
of the creation of this didactical approach, framed in high school, where the objective is to analyze the creation of mathematical models of linear equations given the numbers of people diagnosed with six different STIs (sexually transmitted infections) in Chile through the period of 2012-2015 that allows to estimate the ciphers
for 2016 and 2017, this with the aim to compare them with the real ciphers of said years to make visible the
excessive rising of diagnosed STIs recently (Cassinelli & Fernández, 2018) and start a dialogue about de STI
prevention and self-care in teenagers. The applied approach was based on the mathematics sociocritical perspective and the mathematical modeling (Barbosa 2003, 2018; Barbosa & Santos, 2018; Gomes & Barbosa, 2014). The proposal was applied as a group-work lesson with a 38 students mixed class of secondary school where some of the main results that are highlighted are the difficulties of certain students to communicate mathematically, the variety of mathematical models on the six cases of STIs in response to the answers given from each group, and a bigger awareness about the STIs prevention and self-care. This approach sets a precedent for mathematics and sexual education in Chile by joining both areas with the objective of promoting self-care from a disciplinary analysis of mathematical objects involved in a real-life situation.