PROCEEDINGS OF THE 18TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2015
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Promoting students’ construction and activation of the multiplicatively-based summation conception of the definite integral
Page: 632
Prior research has shown how the multiplicatively-based summation conception (MBS) is important for making sense of definite integral expressions in science contexts. This study attempts to accomplish two goals. First, it describes introductory lessons on integration from two veteran calculus teachers as a way to possibly explain why so few students draw on the MBS conception when making sense of definite integrals. Second, it reports the results from a design experiment intended on promoting not only the construction of the MBS conception, but its priming for activation when students see and interpret definite integrals expressions.