This study investigated math students’ misunderstandings and obstacles in learning limits of functions to enable calculus teachers to design their teaching plan accordingly. A self-designed test about the limits of functions was used as a tool in a survey to collect data from 111 students who were taking Calculus (I) at two public universities. The analysis of the students’ problem-solving styles, misunderstandings, and difficulties pertaining to problem solving revealed the following findings: 1) Approximately half of the students could not correctly provide the intuitive and precise definitions of a limit; 2) the students could not understand the operational symbols of function limits and the basis for applying limit-related laws; 3) the students could not explain the relationship among limit, function value, and continuity; 4) the students experienced difficulties calculating the limit of a function when it contains radicals, absolute values, or bounded periodic functions; 5) most students could not apply the precise definition of a limit to prove the limit of a linear function. On the basis of these findings, we developed several recommendations for improving calculus teaching and research.
|
Math Students’Misunderstandings and Obstacles in Learning Limits of Functions
Download
