Varied ways to teach the definite integral concept

Iiris Attorps; Kjell Björk; Mirko Radic; Timo Tossavainen

doi:10.29333/iejme/275

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Iiris Attorps, Kjell Björk, Mirko Radic, Timo Tossavainen

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Abstract

In this paper, we report on a collaborative teaching experiment based on the Learning Study model (LS model) which grounds on the Variation Theory. Until today, most of such studies have focused on the teaching and learning of elementary school mathematics; ours was carried out in undergraduate mathematics education. In the following, we discuss how we managed to promote students’ conceptual learning by varying the treatment of the object of learning (the concept of definite integral and the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus) during three lectures on an introductory course in calculus. We also discuss the challenges and possibilities of the LS model and the Variation Theory in the development of the teaching of tertiary mathematics in general. The experiment was carried out at a Swedish university. The data of the study consists of the documents of the observation of three lectures and the students’ answers to the pre- and post-tests of each lesson. The analysis of learning results revealed some critical aspects of the definite integral concept and patterns of variations that seem to be effective to a significant degree. For example, we found several possibilities to use GeoGebra to enrich students’ learning opportunities.

Keywords

definite integral
GeoGebra
learning study
tertiary education
variation

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

INT ELECT J MATH ED, Volume 8, Issue 2-3, October 2013, 81-99

https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/275

Publication date: 10 Nov 2013

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How to cite this article

APA

Attorps, I., Björk, K., Radic, M., & Tossavainen, T. (2013). Varied ways to teach the definite integral concept. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 8(2-3), 81-99. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/275

Vancouver

Attorps I, Björk K, Radic M, Tossavainen T. Varied ways to teach the definite integral concept. INT ELECT J MATH ED. 2013;8(2-3):81-99. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/275

AMA

Attorps I, Björk K, Radic M, Tossavainen T. Varied ways to teach the definite integral concept. INT ELECT J MATH ED. 2013;8(2-3), 81-99. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/275

Chicago

Attorps, Iiris, Kjell Björk, Mirko Radic, and Timo Tossavainen. "Varied ways to teach the definite integral concept". International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education 2013 8 no. 2-3 (2013): 81-99. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/275

Harvard

Attorps, I., Björk, K., Radic, M., and Tossavainen, T. (2013). Varied ways to teach the definite integral concept. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 8(2-3), pp. 81-99. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/275

MLA

Attorps, Iiris et al. "Varied ways to teach the definite integral concept". International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, vol. 8, no. 2-3, 2013, pp. 81-99. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/275