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Location:
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KFC Courts |
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Date:
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Tuesday, Aug.02 |
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Time:
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6:00PM - 6:45PM
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Author:
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Rabindra R. Bajracharya
Physics Department, University of Maine
2076029860, ab_study@yahoo.com
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Co-Author(s):
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John R. Thompson, Thomas Thomas Wemyss
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Abstract:
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Physics students are expected to apply the mathematics learned in their mathematics courses to physics concepts and problems. Few PER studies have distinguished between difficulties students have with physics concepts and those they have with mathematics concepts, application of those concepts, or the representations used to connect the math and the physics. We are conducting empirical studies of student responses to mathematics questions dealing with graphical representations of (single-variable) integration. Reasoning in written responses could be put into roughly three major categories related to particular features of the graphs: area under the curve, position of the function, and shape of the curve. In subsequent individual interviews, we varied representational features to explore the depth and breadth of the contextual nature of student reasoning, with an emphasis on negative integrals. Results suggest an incomplete understanding of the criteria that determine the sign of a definite integral.
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Footnotes:
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None
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