PROCEEDINGS OF THE 23RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2020
Boston, Massachusetts
Students’ understanding of partial derivatives
Page: 430
This paper extends work in the area of quantitative reasoning at the undergraduate level, in addition to proposing a conceptual framework for interpreting partial derivatives in different contexts. Task-based interviews were used to examine third-semester calculus students’ reasoning about partial derivatives in two tasks, one situated in a mathematics context (Alajmi, 2012) and the other in a diet and exercise context. Findings of this study indicate that interpreting partial derivatives, especially in the latter context, was problematic for a majority of the students. Overall, findings of this study suggest that student difficulties with interpreting partial derivatives in real-world contexts are similar to student difficulties with interpreting ordinary derivatives. Implications for calculus instruction are included.