PROCEEDINGS OF THE 23RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2020
Boston, Massachusetts
Student reasoning with graphs, contour maps, and rate of change for multivariable functions
Page: 631
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the reasonings students use to move between representations of multivariable functions. We identify five ways students use of aligning graphical representations of functions, or surfaces, with contour maps. Subsequent tasks highlight the affordances one particular reasoning, called Contour Spacing Alignment, offers for students to further develop their reasoning. We analyze student reasoning highlighting the transition between model-of and model-for this reasoning.