In order to provide an efficient teaching plan so that students are able to understand and apply the concept and principle of differentiation, and increase the students' capability to solve questions and mathematical thinking skills, it is important t...
In order to provide an efficient teaching plan so that students are able to understand and apply the concept and principle of differentiation, and increase the students' capability to solve questions and mathematical thinking skills, it is important to first perceive the errors that students make. Therefore, by comprehending the status of the teachers' perception in the errors the students make, this research aims to develop students' understanding of the basic concept of Differentiation, and provide a basic teaching strategy for teachers to improve students' mathematical learning. Firstly, this research aimed to understand the ratio of the types of errors that students make, and the ratio of the students' errors that the teachers perceive. Secondly, the researcher designated the research subject as the ratio of the types of mathematical errors made by students in the process of solving questions in chapters dealing with differentiation, and the ratio of students' errors as perceived by teachers. With this data, the researcher analyzed the students' errors and teachers' perceptions.
This research analyzed 425 students' answers to survey questions at senior students at three high schools in Daegu. In regards to teacher perception, the researcher provided errors made by students in the concept of differentiation from a previous research and surveyed the ratio of students who make these errors. Also, the researcher provided errors made by students in the process of solving problems and had the teachers rank the errors. With this data, the researcher investigated how the teachers perceived the ratio of students' errors. The students' questionnaire was composed of 12 questions. The questions dealt with the concept and meaning of differential coefficient, the meaning of differentiable, the concept of tangent, the understanding of derivatives and the tangent on the inflection point, the graph of derivatives, the concept and understanding of extreme value, and the understanding of position and velocity. Similarly, the teachers' questionnaire consisted of type of errors made by students regarding the concepts above.
As a result of the research, first of all, students made various errors and lacked understanding of the concept of differentiation. The most prominent errors consisted of the following: confusing the differential coefficient as the value of function on one point, confusing continuum and differentiable, the error that a tangent passes through a point of a curve and the gradient equals the line of the differential coefficient on that point, the error that the tangent of the inflection point changes in the same direction of the graph of the function f(x), and is the line that passes through the inflection point, the error that a tangent graph cannot be drawn on the inflection point, the error that the graph of the function and derivative has the same direction, the error that an undifferentiable point cannot have an extreme value, the error of unconditionally perceiving the extreme value as the function value of the solution to f′(x)=0, not being able to distinguish the position and movement distance at a specific time, and not being able to realize the velocity by looking at a graph.
Secondly, there was a difference in the ratio of the types of errors that students make in the concept of differentiation, and the ratio of the teachers' perception of the students' errors. There was a difference in the ratio of types of students' errors and ratio of the teachers' perception of the students' errors in the sections concerning the concept and meaning of differential coefficient, the concept of tangent, the understanding of the tangent on the inflection point, the concept and understanding of extreme value, and the understanding of position and velocity. Especially, the researcher was able to find out that there is a difference in the ratio of types of students' errors and ratio of the teachers' perception of the students' errors from the following types of errors: confusing the differential coefficient as a value of function on a certain point, mistaking the differential coefficient for the average rate of change at the entire interval, mistaking the differential coefficient for the rate of change at a certain interval, mistaking that the tangent passes through a certain point on a curve and that gradient is the same line as the differential coefficient on that point, mistaking that the tangent are the many lines that passes through a curve, mistaking that the tangent of an inflection point changes in the same direction as the graph of the function f(x) and is the single line that goes through point A, the error that a tangent graph cannot be drawn on the inflection point, mistaking that multiple tangents can be drawn upon the inflection point, the error of drawing the graph of a derivative of the entire function as the tangent on the inflection point, the error of perceiving the extreme value as the solution of f′(x)=0, the error that an undifferentiable point cannot have an extreme value, the error of perceiving the extreme value as maximum or minimum value, the error of perceiving the extreme value as the function value of the solution to f′(x)=0, confusing the time-distance graph and the time-velocity graph, and not being able to distinguish the velocity at a specific time. Thus, the teachers mistakenly perceived which sections had a high ratio in the errors that students made in the concept of differentiation.
Thirdly, there was a difference the ratio of the types of mathematical errors made by students in the process of solving questions in chapters dealing with differentiation, and the ratio of students' errors as perceived by teachers. The problems that omitted the explanation had the highest error ratio among the students; however, the teachers ranked these errors as the lowest, thinking that students had a low error ratio. Furthermore, the students had a low ratio of mistaking definitions or ineptly using theorems, but teachers wrongly perceived that students had a high error ratio in these sections.
It is necessary to break down the types of errors that student s make and analyze them in order to help students understand the principles and concept of differentiation and apply them. Also, it is necessary to understand and improve the teachers' perception of the students' errors concerning the concept of differentiation in order to help students understand the concept of differentiation. Lastly, a teaching-learning method is necessary to remove the prominent types of errors that appear among students.