PROCEEDINGS OF THE 18TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2015
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Students’ conceptions of rational functions
Page: 522
Mathematics education research on dynamic technologies incorporated into learning environments indicates that they possess the ability to enrich students’ mathematical conceptual understanding. This study explores how three community college students conceptualize rational functions by classifying their mathematical thinking according to the APOS theory. This study highlighted students’ conceptualization of rational functions as actions (required sequences of observable external steps), processes (sequences with no need to externalize), and objects (thinking about rational functions as a single object or entity).