RUME 26
2024
Omaha, Nebraska
Ways of Reasoning About Inverse Functions
Page: 968
Prior research on student understanding of inverse function has primarily focused on deficits in these understandings without explicitly addressing the mental actions and operations that researchers or instructors would like students to engage in. In this report, I present three ways of reasoning about inverse functions: a covariational approach, a mapping approach, and a set theoretic approach. I argue that all three entail productive ways of thinking about inverse functions, and that the coordination of the three can support students in reasoning about inverse functions in a variety of contexts.