PROCEEDINGS OF THE 18TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2015
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Students’ understanding of concavity and inflection points in real-world contexts: Graphical, symbolic, verbal, and physical representations
Page: 568
Much of what we know about student understanding of concavity and inflection points comes incidentally from studies looking at the calculus activity of sketching the graphs of functions. However, since concavity and inflection points can be useful in conveying information in disciplines like physics, engineering, biology, and economics, it seems important to study how students understand these two concepts in these contexts. This study attempts to provide insight into this area.