Understanding mathematical modelling Mathematical modelling has always been and still continues to be one of the most important driving forces of mathematics. This is due to the fact that the subject of mathematical modelling is an endless study. What is mathematical modelling? Mathematical model is system description. This particular system being described in a model uses mathematical concepts and language and the entire process of doing this belongs to the field of mathematical modelling. As stated above, mathematical modelling is an endless study and a very important part of the mathematics in general, especially because it is often used in natural, engineering and social sciences. The main purpose of using this model is to explain a certain system and study the effects its components have. Additionally, this system is used to help predict future behavior of the systems being researched. This research paper is a product of explorative research of how the educational system combining students and teachers and the modelling experts see the mathematical modelling. Generally speaking, the main idea is to discuss whether people are familiarized with the term and the process itself and how often they implement it in the everyday life. Of course, being one of the most important parts in the mathematics world and a crucial element in almost every science out there, my expectations about mathematical modelling knowledge have been set very high in the beginning of this research paper. There are many research papers out there that discuss this type of modelling and according to the information I found, the description of modelers varied. In some cases, the modelers defined this term as a mathematical tool with the purpose of describing, simplifying and recreating realities. In others, mathematical modelling had been defined as an activity for setting a certain mathematical model. To discuss this further and in more detail, this research paper will try to point on some of the most valuable researches in terms of modelling. In the research papers of Blomhoj and Hojgaard Jensen (2003) modelling is defined as a holistic process that includes validation. Skolverket’s mathematical syllabus (2012) describes this type of modelling as an ability to be taught. Peter Frejd (2014) has conducted an interview of teachers in order to further investigate the percentage of teachers that are familiar with the notion of mathematical modelling. The results showed that only half of the teachers had known about this term prior to the interview study. Those who were familiar on the other hand, expressed a complete different set of description of this term. This makes additional questions arise, such as: why do people tend to define this process differently? To discover why this happens, the next thing is to look into the textbooks. When speaking of textbooks, the description of this type and its models vary greatly, therefore it is not really strange why everyone sees and defines this process differently. For example, the textbooks of Stabo (2011) and Alfedsoon (2011) give more explicit description of mathematical modelling than others. This only points out to the fact that modelling has always been and still is presented in a kind of marginalized way and the entire idea of textbooks informing and supporting students to develop a modelling ability is set to a minimum. The point that mathematical modelling has been seen differently by people who use it daily is quite intriguing, especially because we are speaking of a particular process with the same basis and purpose. Niss (2007) has come to the conclusion that the only way to succeed in developing the ability for mathematical modelling is for it to be explicitly taught in schools by teachers. This would point out to the result of the notion actually taught in the school, instead of being expected to come naturally when people are faced to solving this type of problems in life. All people have different approach towards solving a certain problem, but the main process of doing so is always trough this type of mathematical modelling. As stated above, the variety of description and definition of this term is not surprising at all. First of all, this is due to both different definitions set by researchers in research papers and different methods of teaching mathematical modelling in the schools. Additionally, the approaches towards solving some problems are always different and this makes it especially difficult for the notion to transpose into practice, especially in the school. The thing is, having no general definition makes the whole process more difficult to understand and realistically, anyone who uses the notion should be aware of what its meaning really is. This research has lead me to the conclusion that mathematical modelling is not something to be taken for granted and the knowledge of both the term and the notion should really be more implemented in the educational system.