|
Location:
|
HC 3023 & 3023A |
|
Date:
|
Monday, Aug.1 |
|
Time:
|
1:00 PM -1:10 PM
|
|
Author:
|
Dehui Hu, Kansas State University
785-532-1612, dehuihu@phys.ksu.edu
|
|
Co-Author(s):
|
Joshua Von Korff , N. Sanjay Rebello
|
|
Abstract:
|
Students in introductory-level physics encounter several difficulties when solving physics problems involving differentiation and integration. Physics instructors tend to assume that students have the prerequisite mathematical skills for success in the course, however, research has shown that most students do not know how to apply mathematical tools in a physics context. Based on the knowledge of the difficulties students with the use of differentiation and integration in physics encoutered from previous studies, we are developing instructional materials aimed at facilitating students to address these difficulties in several topics in introductory physics. We have implemented these materials in group problem-solving sessions aimed at enabling students to learn the mathematical concepts of tangent lines, slope, Riemann sum, and approximation in a physics context. We present a discussion about student difficulties on those concepts and the development of our instructional materials.
|
|
Footnotes:
|
This work is supported in part by U.S. National Science Foundation grant 0816207.
|
|
|
|