Abstract
This study assessed the ability of university students enrolled in an introductory calculus course to solve related-rates problems set in geometric contexts. Students completed a problem-solving test and a test of performance on the individual steps involved in solving such problems. Each step was characterised as primarily relying on procedural knowledge or conceptual understanding. Results indicated that overall performance on the geometric related-rates problems was poor. The poorest performance was on steps linked to conceptual understanding, specifically steps involving the translation of prose to geometric and symbolic representations. Overall performance was most strongly related to performance on the procedural steps.
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Martin, T. Calculus students’ ability to solve geometric related-rates problems. Math Ed Res J 12, 74–91 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03217077
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03217077