The purpose of this article is to elaborate Cottrill et al.'s (1996) conceptual framework of limit, an explanatory model of how students might come to understand the limit concept. Drawing on a retrospective analysis of 2 teaching experiments, we propose 2 theoretical constructs to account for the students' success in formulating and understanding…

Develops covariational reasoning and proposes a framework for describing mental actions when interpreting and representing dynamic function events. Investigates calculus students' ability to reason about covarying quantities in dynamic situations. Suggests that curriculum and instruction should emphasize moving students to a coordinated image of…

Highlights major areas of research in mathematics education and examines four areas in need of additional attention: (1) the role of technology in mathematics teaching; (2) models for evaluating mathematics teaching; (3) development of estimation skills; and (4) the role of affective variables in the teaching of problem solving. (JN)

A study documented 10 college students' understanding of the limit concept and the factors affecting changes in that understanding. Encouragement by the researchers for the students to change their common informal models of limit to more formal conceptions were met with extreme resistance. (Author/JJK)

Explores the strategies used by prospective secondary mathematics teachers (N=13) to develop and validate functions as mathematical models of real-world situations. Uses a grounded hypothesis on strategy selection. Concludes that strategy choice was influenced by task characteristics and interactions with other student modelers. Contains 38…