RUME 28
2026
Alexandria, Virginia
Keeping Time: Utilizing Non-Normative Axes in Graphing Tasks to Support Covariational Reasoning
Page: 1413
Animation-based graphing tasks, when carefully designed, can support students’ covariational reasoning. To support such reasoning, researchers have recommended avoiding contexts in which students are coordinating changes in time with changes in another quantity. In this poster, I examined Calculus 1 students’ level of covariational reasoning as they engaged with distance-time graphing tasks with normative and non-normative axes (i.e., time on the vertical axis). Consistent with prior empirical reports, I found that students engaged in limited forms of covariational reasoning on distance-time tasks with normative axes. However, all 12 students engaged in covariational reasoning on the time-distance tasks (non-normative axes). I discuss implications for curriculum design and research on covariational reasoning.