PROCEEDINGS OF THE 17TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2014
Denver, Colorado
Using a Framing and Resources Framework for analyzing student thinking about matrix multiplication
Page: 481
A student who has completed both Linear Algebra and Quantum Mechanics should have a wealth of conceptual and procedural knowledge that has been obtained from mathematics and physics classes. However in practice, students seem to struggle with this task. This investigation casts light on students’ thinking about matrix multiplication and how their thinking appears to be influenced by their framing of the problem as either a mathematics or physics question. Using Framing and Resources as a theoretical lens can provide insight into the ideas and concepts that a student accesses from domains of mathematics and physics. Using lexicon analysis, it appears the student shifts from a “mathematical frame” to a “physics frame” and back again, but struggles to successfully transfer concepts between these two frames. I will highlight the markers for these frame shifts and demonstrate why framing and resources is the appropriate lens for this investigation.