摘要:The aim of this paper is to present a proposal for teaching linear algebra based on heuristic of emergent models and mathematical modelling. This proposal begins with a problematic situation related to the creation and use of secure passwords, which leads first-year students of engineering toward the construction of the concepts of spanning set and span. The proposal is designed from the results of the two cycles of experimentation teaching, design-based research, which give evidence that allows students to progress from a situation in a real context to the concepts of linear algebra. This proposal, previously adapted, could have similar results when applied to another group of students.