Resumen de Calculus 1 college students’ concept of function

Amal Hussain Alajmi, Maryam Mohammed Al Kandari

• This article reports on a study of Kuwaiti college students’ knowledge about the concept of functions. It also shows the connections these students make between different representations of functions. The results indicated that most students (96%) were unable to provide a definition of a function and only a third could provide examples of a function. They were challenged in recognizing a function in different representations. Their response suggested that some of them associated functions with graphs, while others thought any algebraic formula was a function.

  In connecting different function representations, some students connected familiar graphs with some familiar algebraic formulas.

  Others focused on ‘matching’ symbols, names and any signs that were included in the relations. Their responses suggest that most hold some misconceptions about functions and that these concepts need more attention, in both school and college level teaching, to help students develop a better understanding of functions.