Using a Realistic Context to Motivate and Teach Engineering Students the Chain Rule
Existing research shows that students struggle to understand and use the chain rule appropriately. Other research suggests instructors use more contextually rich problems in their teaching to allow the students to experience calculus through meaningful contexts. In response, this concept paper prese...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Education Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/4/433 |
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| author | Imad Abou-Hayt Bettina Dahl |
| author_facet | Imad Abou-Hayt Bettina Dahl |
| author_sort | Imad Abou-Hayt |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Existing research shows that students struggle to understand and use the chain rule appropriately. Other research suggests instructors use more contextually rich problems in their teaching to allow the students to experience calculus through meaningful contexts. In response, this concept paper presents four tasks using the chain rule that we anticipate can be compatible with how students discern concepts, and which could enhance the students’ understanding of the chain rule. The setup is that the students learn the chain rule through the multiplication rule, demonstrated through four teaching tasks. Applying Tall’s three worlds of mathematics when designing mathematics tasks makes it possible to blend symbolic and embodied worlds, opening the door to the formal world, which is beneficial for engineering students. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4a275fd077dc41b7b90eb063856339d3 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-4a275fd077dc41b7b90eb063856339d32025-08-20T02:28:33ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022025-03-0115443310.3390/educsci15040433Using a Realistic Context to Motivate and Teach Engineering Students the Chain RuleImad Abou-Hayt0Bettina Dahl1Department of Sustainability and Planning, Aalborg University, DK 2450 Copenhagen, DenmarkDepartment of Sustainability and Planning, Aalborg University, DK 9000 Aalborg, DenmarkExisting research shows that students struggle to understand and use the chain rule appropriately. Other research suggests instructors use more contextually rich problems in their teaching to allow the students to experience calculus through meaningful contexts. In response, this concept paper presents four tasks using the chain rule that we anticipate can be compatible with how students discern concepts, and which could enhance the students’ understanding of the chain rule. The setup is that the students learn the chain rule through the multiplication rule, demonstrated through four teaching tasks. Applying Tall’s three worlds of mathematics when designing mathematics tasks makes it possible to blend symbolic and embodied worlds, opening the door to the formal world, which is beneficial for engineering students.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/4/433the chain rulemathematics educationengineering educationuniversity students |
| spellingShingle | Imad Abou-Hayt Bettina Dahl Using a Realistic Context to Motivate and Teach Engineering Students the Chain Rule Education Sciences the chain rule mathematics education engineering education university students |
| title | Using a Realistic Context to Motivate and Teach Engineering Students the Chain Rule |
| title_full | Using a Realistic Context to Motivate and Teach Engineering Students the Chain Rule |
| title_fullStr | Using a Realistic Context to Motivate and Teach Engineering Students the Chain Rule |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using a Realistic Context to Motivate and Teach Engineering Students the Chain Rule |
| title_short | Using a Realistic Context to Motivate and Teach Engineering Students the Chain Rule |
| title_sort | using a realistic context to motivate and teach engineering students the chain rule |
| topic | the chain rule mathematics education engineering education university students |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/4/433 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT imadabouhayt usingarealisticcontexttomotivateandteachengineeringstudentsthechainrule AT bettinadahl usingarealisticcontexttomotivateandteachengineeringstudentsthechainrule |