PROCEEDINGS OF THE 18TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2015
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Students’ understanding of composition of functions using model analysis
Page: 759
Model analysis is a quantitative research method used in physics education research to analyze and interpret the meaning of students’ incorrect responses on a well- designed research-based multiple-choice test. We have adapted this method to study students’ understanding of function composition when functions are represented graphical. Model analysis accounts for the fact that students may hold more than one idea or conception at a time, and may use different ideas and concepts in response to different situations. It is uniquely suited to study students’ understanding of function composition, as students often hold multiple, sometimes conflicting misconceptions on function composition, which they may use at different times. Model analysis can capture information on self-consistency of a student’s responses. We collected data from a calculus class before and after the class reviewed composition of functions. We find that model analysis offers insights not offered by traditional statistics.