Unless otherwise noted, seminars will be presented virtually from 2–3 pm via Zoom (Meeting ID: 966 6801 6747 | Passcode: 06052896).
Spring 2026 Schedule
| Seminar Date | Seminar Details |
|---|---|
| March 2, 2026 | Middle School Students’ Meanings of Points From Quantitative and Covariational Reasoning Perspectives Dr. Halil Tasova March 2 abstract We examine the meanings students give to points when they are graphing relationships between quantities in dynamic, experiential contexts. Using data from teaching experiments with middle-grades students, we illustrate two main categories of meanings: iconic and quantitative. We then introduce four distinct subcategories of meanings: (a) iconic and transformed iconic translations (a point represents an object or location), (b) nonunited points (a point represents a single quantity's magnitude), (c) spatial-quantitative multiplicative objects (a point is an object or location with quantitative properties), and (d) quantitative multiplicative objects in conventional and nonconventional planes (a point represents two quantities' magnitudes). We discuss the implications of these meanings for research, teaching, and curriculum development. |
| March 16, 2026 | Teaching Calculus for Improved STEM Coherence Dr. Steven Jones March 16 abstract It is increasingly clear that there are important disconnects between the meanings and understandings we tend to develop for certain mathematical ideas in our math classes versus how these same ideas are used across the sciences, engineering, and other STEM disciplines. Even students who get good grades in math can struggle to know how to use those math concepts outside of their math classes. This is particularly true of calculus, and in this talk I will focus on central calculus concepts, in terms of how the meanings/understandings we develop in calculus classes may create issues for students in trying to use calculus in other STEM fields. I will also discuss what we might do in calculus classes to bridge this gap. In short, we can still teach the calculus concepts that mathematics departments would expect, but we can build meanings for the concepts in ways that better "cohere" with their uses in their various STEM fields. |
| April 6, 2026 | TBA Dr. Teo Paoletti |
| April 27, 2026 | What Does it Mean to Have a Rate of Change at a Point? Dr. Franklin Yu April 27 abstract A productive understanding of rate of change is essential for constructing a robust understanding of derivatives. There is substantial evidence in the research that students enter and leave their Calculus courses with nascent understandings of rate of change. In this talk, I discuss my findings about how students interpret the value of a derivative and the implementation of a short unit on "What is Rate of Change" in a Calculus 1 course that indicated shifts in student thinking about rate of change. In particular, I designed the unit to purposefully combat the common conception that a rate of change is the amount of change in the output for a 1-unit change in the input. |
