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The Pancake Story and the Epsilon–Delta Definition.
- Source :
- Primus: Problems, Resources & Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies; 2021, Vol. 31 Issue 6, p662-677, 16p
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- The complexity in understanding the ϵ–δ definition has motivated research into the teaching and learning of the topic. In this paper I share my design of an instructional analogy called the Pancake Story and four different questions to explore the logical relationship between ϵ and δ that structures the definition. I designed the story from an anti-deficit perspective on students' mathematical thinking. I leverage students' intuitions about quality control, and explicitly build on students' prior knowledge that I gathered from student interviews. I illustrate the utility of the story in supporting students' sense-making of the formal definition by sharing changes in students' claims and justifications about the relationship between ϵ and δ. Students' justifications also provide examples of the kind of thinking an instructor might expect to see in the classroom when using the story. I end the paper with some classroom implications and a teaching episode illustrating how students might use the story to make sense of limit more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 10511970
- Volume :
- 31
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Primus: Problems, Resources & Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 150123354
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/10511970.2019.1669231