RUME 27
2025
Alexandria, Virginia
Where is the Calculus in Calculus-based Introductory Mechanics: A Textbook Analysis
Page: 1088
This paper describes a study of where and when calculus concepts and skills appear in the first semester of introductory physics. Following similar work in differential equations, engineering, and chemistry, we have adopted the Calculus Concept Framework and used the framework to identify which concepts and skills appear in each section of the first twelve chapters of a standard introductory physics textbook. Each section of each chapter was coded independently by three researchers and results were collated and discussed.