PROCEEDINGS OF THE 20TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2017
San Diego, California
Calculus students’ reasoning about slope as a ratio-of-totals and its impact on their reasoning about derivative
Page: 982
Although studies have shown that students have difficulty with slope and derivative concepts,little is known about connections between these difficulties. In this study, written surveys andclinical interviews were used to examine students’ understanding of both slope and derivative inreal-life contexts. The dominant incorrect reasoning was thinking of slope as the ratio-of-totals