PROCEEDINGS OF THE 20TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2017
San Diego, California
Second semester calculus students and the contrapositive of the nth term test
Page: 1207
Little is known about the difficulties second semester calculus students have determining seriesconvergence, and why students have such difficulty. This report seeks to add to the existingliterature on series by analyzing second semester calculus student responses to a multiple choiceitem that involves the use of the contrapositive of the nth term test. We frame our discussion interms of what these answer choices might say in terms of student concept images of series andsequences. We also analyze what prerequisite knowledge might help students be more successfulin answering questions about series and sequences typically seen in a second semester calculuscourse.Key words