Search results for "Anthropological Theory of the Didactic"
showing 3 items of 3 documents
The use of integrals in Mechanics of Materials textbooks for engineering students: the case of the first moment of an area
2018
International audience; Research has reported on the difficulties engineering students face in relating the content of their mathematics courses to what is taught in their professional courses. One way to address these difficulties is by better understanding how mathematical notions are used in professional engineering courses. This paper analyses how the notion of first moment of an area – which is defined as an integral – is used in civil engineering courses. Basing our analysis on elements from the anthropological theory of the didactic, we are currently analysing a classic Mechanics of Materials book. Our findings indicate that although first moments are introduced as an integral, the t…
From single to multi-variable Calculus: a transition?
2018
International audience; We recently used the notion of praxeology from the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic to model the knowledge that is necessary for students to learn in order to succeed in an undergraduate multivariable Calculus course. We considered the presence and absence of elements of the knowledge to be taught, as proposed by curricular documents, in the knowledge to be learned, as indicated by final exams. Our results indicate that the mathematical activities expected of students at this level align with the activities observed in differential and integral Calculus, where exercise-driven assessments set students' work mainly in the recognition of types of tasks and recolle…
Bridging probability and calculus: the case of continuous distributions and integrals at the secondary-tertiary transition
2018
International audience; This paper focuses on two mathematical topics, namely continuous probability distributions (CPD) and integral calculus (IC). These two sectors that are linked by the formula P(a<=X<=b)=int_a^b f(x)dx are quite compartmented in teaching classes in France. The main objective is to study whether French students can mobilize the sector of IC to solve tasks in CPD and vice versa at the transition from high school to higher education. Applying the theoretical framework of the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic (ATD), we describe a reference epistemological model (REM) and use it to elaborate a questionnaire in order to test the capacity of students to bridge CPD and IC…