Resumen de Calculus is the study of change, but differential equations students need help quantifying it

Jennifer A. Czocher, Andrew Baas, Abigail Quansah, Elizabeth Roan

• Students exit calculus with understandings of change that want for conceptual depth and are disconnected from real-world contexts. In this paper, we present a problem that will develop their skills in using change concepts for learning differential equations through modelling. The problem comes from a qualitative study of how STEM majors approach and think about differential equations as models for real-world scenarios. Our purpose is to inform faculty who are using open, authentic, scenario-driven instructional materials about the ways their students think about what are often taken-for-granted concepts in advanced mathematics and to support faculty in ensuring their students get the most from their innovative instructional materials.