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Analysis of the Meanings of the Antiderivative Used by Students of the First Engineering Courses

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Abstract

In this article, we present the results of the administration of a questionnaire designed to evaluate the understanding that civil engineering students have of the antiderivative. The questionnaire was simultaneously administered to samples of Mexican and Colombian students. For the analysis of the answers, we used some theoretical and methodological notions provided by the theoretical model known as Onto-Semiotic Approach (OSA) to mathematical cognition and instruction. The results revealed the meanings of the antiderivative that are more predominantly used by civil engineering students. Also, the comparison between the mathematical activity of Mexican and Colombian students provides information that allows concluding that the meanings mobilized could be shared among their communities and are not particular of their classroom or university.

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Acknowledgements

This study has been performed in the framework of research projects FONDECYT Nº 11150014 (Funded by CONICYT, Chile), and EDU2015-64646-P (MINECO/FEDER, UE).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Exact Sciences. Post Graduate Program in Mathematics Education, Universidad de Los Lagos, C/ Lord Cochrane, 1039, Osorno, Chile

    Luis R. Pino-Fan

  2. Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Vicenç Font

  3. Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Bogotá, Colombia

    Wilson Gordillo

  4. Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico

    Víctor Larios

  5. Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile

    Adriana Breda

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  1. Luis R. Pino-Fan
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  2. Vicenç Font
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  3. Wilson Gordillo
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  4. Víctor Larios
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  5. Adriana Breda
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Correspondence to Luis R. Pino-Fan.

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Pino-Fan, L.R., Font, V., Gordillo, W. et al. Analysis of the Meanings of the Antiderivative Used by Students of the First Engineering Courses. Int J of Sci and Math Educ 16, 1091–1113 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-017-9826-2

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