PROCEEDINGS OF THE 19TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2016
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
A study of common student practices for determining the domain and range of graphs
Page: 644
This study focuses on how students in different postsecondary mathematics courses perform on domain and range tasks regarding graphs of functions. Students often focus on notable aspects of a graph and fail to see the graph in its entirety. Many students struggle with piecewise functions, especially those involving horizontal segments. Findings indicate that Calculus I students performed better on domain tasks than students in lower math course students; however, they did not outperform students in lower math courses on range tasks. In general, student performance did not provide evidence of a deep understanding of domain and range.