RUME 28
2026
Alexandria, Virginia
Beyond a Surface-Level Understanding: Developing a Conceptual Assessment of the Derivative
Page: 1409
Many examinations in mathematics given to students often focus on the students being able to perform procedures or otherwise require little conceptual understanding to solve, even if the question was not designed as such. In contrast, a concept assessment or concept inventory is an assessment dedicated to assessing conceptual knowledge within a given subject area. For calculus, Epstein's Calculus Concept Inventory was such an early concept assessment, but it has been critiqued for its lack of research as a foundation as well as its lack of validity. This research is part of a larger research project aiming to create an improved and modular concept assessment for calculus, with this section in particular focused on derivatives. The project is still in its early stages, with the current task being to develop the questions based around what the research says about student understanding derivatives.