PROCEEDINGS OF THE 16TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION (Vol 2)
2013
Denver, Colorado
Assessment of students’ understanding of related rates problems
Page: 2-607
This study started with a thorough analysis of student work on problems involving related rates of change in a first-year differential calculus course at a large, research- focused university. In two sections of the course, students' written solutions to geometric related rates problems were coded and analyzed, and students' learning was tracked throughout the term. Three months after the end of term, "think-aloud'' interviews were conducted with some of the students who completed the course. The interviews and some of the written assessments were structured based on the classification of key steps in solving related rates proposed by Martin (2000). Our preliminary findings revealed a widespread, persistent use of algorithmic procedures to generate a solution, observed in both the treatment of the physical and geometric problem, and the approach to the differentiation, and raised the question of whether traditional exam questions are a true measure of students' understanding of related rates.