An Explorative Digital Tool as a Pathway to Meaning: The Case of the Inflection Point

Autor/inn/en	Kouropatov, Anatoli; Ovodenko, Regina
Titel	An Explorative Digital Tool as a Pathway to Meaning: The Case of the Inflection Point
Quelle	In: Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications, 41 (2022) 2, S.142-166 (25 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0268-3679
DOI	10.1093/teamat/hrac007
Schlagwörter	Calculus; Mathematical Concepts; Educational Technology; Technology Uses in Education; College Freshmen; College Mathematics; Mathematics Instruction; Knowledge Level + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Analysis; Differenzialrechnung; Infinitesimalrechnung; Integralrechnung; Unterrichtsmedien; Technology enhanced learning; Technology aided learning; Technologieunterstütztes Lernen; Studienanfänger; Mathematics lessons; Mathematikunterricht; Wissensbasis
Abstract	The learning of calculus concepts is considered challenging for students. This claim is actual for calculus in general and for specific concepts in particular. In this paper, we focus on the concept of the inflection point. We argue that one of the roots of this problem is the lack of a useful and productive meaning of the concept--the understanding of the inflection point as the point where the behaviour of a curve (graph of function) changes in relation to the tangent line. With the purpose of helping students to construct this meaning we developed a specific digital tool: a teaching unit based on the interactive diagrams framework. Does this tool help students to achieve this meaning (i.e., to construct and consolidate new knowledge)? To answer this question, we conducted an empirical feasibility experiment (in the form of a case study with two first-year students from the Industrial Engineering College) and analysed the gathered data using the framework of abstraction in context as the theoretical and methodological basis. Our findings show that the designed tool (the interactive digital teaching unit) has potential for helping students to make the above-mentioned meaning for this mathematical concept and can serve as a useful basis to continue the investigation of designing tools that support the meaning-making of advanced mathematical concepts. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01