PROCEEDINGS OF THE 16TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION (Vol 1)
2013
Denver, Colorado
Formative assessment and students’ Zone of Proximal Development in Introductory Calculus
Page: 1-176
One of the challenges of teaching introductory calculus is the large variance in student backgrounds. Formative assessment can be used to target which students need help, but little is known about why formative assessment is effective with adult learners. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate which functions of formative assessment as described by Black & William’s 2009 framework. This paper examines case studies of two students: Leonard and Sandra. Although the two students earned similar grades, their varying levels of participation in the formative assessments led to very different conceptual development paths in their introductory calculus course.