A learning theory approach to students' misconceptions in calculus
Master Thesis
1998
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University of Cape Town
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Abstract
This study analyses students' errors in calculus through the lens of learning theories. The subjects in this study were 117 students enrolled in a calculus course for students from disadvantaged educational backgrounds at the University of Cape Town. A coding scheme to categorise the errors that these students made in the final examination was developed. This categorisation was supported by error data generated through the administration of a conceptual test and follow-up interviews. The pattern of errors in the coding scheme suggests that the students' perception of algebra is largely that of a "game of letters". As a result of this their construction of calculus knowledge is based on the rehearsal of algorithmic procedures. Their errors indicate that they develop linking and extending mechanisms to deal with the multiplicity of rules that are generated from this process of rehearsal.
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Bibliography: leaves 129-138.
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Bowie, L. 1998. A learning theory approach to students' misconceptions in calculus. University of Cape Town.