PROCEEDINGS OF THE 20TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2017
San Diego, California
Factors influencing instructor use of student ideas in the Multivariable Calculus classroom
Page: 1619
In introductory physics classes, student frequently experience difficulties with relative motionproblems. Previous studies have categorized student difficulties with reference frames, or usedcomputer simulations or experiments to create seeming paradoxes that students would needframes of reference to resolve; however, these studies failed to define what they meant by a“frame of reference” in the mind of a student. In 2016 I carried out a pilot study that used ourcognitive definition of a conceptualized and coordinate frame of reference (Joshua, Musgrave,Hatfield, & Thompson, 2015) as well as quantitative reasoning (Thompson, 1993) to guide aninstructional intervention and analyze the difficulties the student had with relative motion tasks.Both constructs proved to have great explanatory power, as they revealed aspects of thestudent’s thinking that were not commonly explored in previous studies. Both the results of thisstudy and their implications will be the topic of my poster.