Mathematics students' characteristics of basic mental models of the derivative

  • The concept of derivative is characterised with reference to four basic mental models. These are described as theoretical constructs based on theoretical considerations. The four basic mental models—local rate of change, tangent slope, local linearity and amplification factor—are not only quantified empirically but are also validated. To this end, a test instrument for measuring students’ characteristics of basic mental models is presented and analysed regarding quality criteria. Mathematics students (n = 266) were tested with this instrument. The test results show that the four basic mental models of the derivative can be reconstructed among the students with different characteristics. The tangent slope has the highest agreement values across all tasks. The agreement on explanations based on the basic mental model of rate of change is not as strongly established among students as one would expect due to framework settings in the school system by means of curricula and educationalThe concept of derivative is characterised with reference to four basic mental models. These are described as theoretical constructs based on theoretical considerations. The four basic mental models—local rate of change, tangent slope, local linearity and amplification factor—are not only quantified empirically but are also validated. To this end, a test instrument for measuring students’ characteristics of basic mental models is presented and analysed regarding quality criteria. Mathematics students (n = 266) were tested with this instrument. The test results show that the four basic mental models of the derivative can be reconstructed among the students with different characteristics. The tangent slope has the highest agreement values across all tasks. The agreement on explanations based on the basic mental model of rate of change is not as strongly established among students as one would expect due to framework settings in the school system by means of curricula and educational standards. The basic mental model of local linearity plays a rather subordinate role. The amplification factor achieves the lowest agreement values. In addition, cluster analysis was conducted to identify different subgroups of the student population. Moreover, the test results can be attributed to characteristics of the task types as well as to the students’ previous experiences from mathematics classes by means of qualitative interpretation. These and other results of students’ basic mental models of the derivative are presented and discussed in detail.show moreshow less

Download full text files

Export metadata

Statistics

Number of document requests

Additional Services

Share in Twitter Search Google Scholar
Metadaten
Author:Gilbert Greefrath, Reinhard OldenburgORCiDGND, Hans-Stefan Siller, Volker Ulm, Hans-Georg Weigand
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:384-opus4-955898
Frontdoor URLhttps://opus.bibliothek.uni-augsburg.de/opus4/95589
ISSN:0173-5322OPAC
ISSN:1869-2699OPAC
Parent Title (German):Journal für Mathematik-Didaktik
Publisher:Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Place of publication:Berlin
Type:Article
Language:English
Year of first Publication:2023
Publishing Institution:Universität Augsburg
Release Date:2022/05/19
Tag:Education; General Mathematics
Volume:44
Issue:1
First Page:143
Last Page:169
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s13138-022-00207-9
Institutes:Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlich-Technische Fakultät
Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlich-Technische Fakultät / Institut für Mathematik
Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlich-Technische Fakultät / Institut für Mathematik / Lehrstuhl für Didaktik der Mathematik
Dewey Decimal Classification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 51 Mathematik / 510 Mathematik
Licence (German):CC-BY 4.0: Creative Commons: Namensnennung (mit Print on Demand)