PROCEEDINGS OF THE 21ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2018
San Diego, California
Development of reasoning about rate of change, based on quantitative and qualitative analysis
Page: 1744
Pre-calculus and Calculus are two big compartments as we consider their developmental and complemental attribute. I analyzed data quantitatively from a series of pre-calculus assessments conducted in a large public university 2017 fall, then investigated the result and its impacts qualitatively in calculus context focused on rate of change. The two-part analysis consists of discerning intrinsic factors in the assessment items that have a large effect on overall performance followed by clinical interviews about meaning of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus and its applications. The results support my claim that the ability to conceptualize constant rate of change has a considerably positive effect on students’ reasoning about rate of change and the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus as well.