Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Education
College Students’ Perceptions Of Their "Best" And "Worst" Courses And Instructors, Debra S. Emmelman, Michael Decesare
College Students’ Perceptions Of Their "Best" And "Worst" Courses And Instructors, Debra S. Emmelman, Michael Decesare
Sociology Faculty Publications
This paper presents results from a content analysis of college students' descriptions of their "best" and " worst " courses and instructors. We were interested primarily in two issues: how college students evaluate their courses , and the extent to which they emphasize various dimensions in their evaluations. We found that students evaluated their course experiences along seven interrelated dimensions: factors external to the course, level of tedium, classroom activities, classroom atmosphere, instructor's comportment, workload/assignments/grading issues, and acquisition of knowledge and skills. These dimensions were emphasized to different degrees and tended to vary in oppositional manners according to the type …
Calculus Students’ Difficulties In Using Variables As Changing Quantities, Susan S. Gray, Barbara J. Loud, Carole Sokolowski
Calculus Students’ Difficulties In Using Variables As Changing Quantities, Susan S. Gray, Barbara J. Loud, Carole Sokolowski
Mathematics Faculty Publications
The study of calculus requires an ability to understand algebraic variables as generalized numbers and as functionally-related quantities. These more advanced uses of variables are indicative of algebraic thinking as opposed to arithmetic thinking. This study reports on entering Calculus I students’ responses to a selection of test questions that required the use of variables in these advanced ways. On average, students’ success rates on these questions were less than 50%. An analysis of errors revealed students’ tendencies toward arithmetic thinking when they attempted to answer questions that required an ability to think of variables as changing quantities, a characteristic …