High School Students’ Language Related Struggles with Contextualized Differential Equations

Zakaria Ndemo

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13

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High School Students’ Language Related Struggles with Contextualized Differential Equations

Zakaria Ndemo

Published in International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (Volume 5, Issue 1)

Received: 10 January 2019 Accepted: 15 March 2019 Published: 18 April 2019

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Abstract

Upon observing with concern that the majority of high school students experienced severe language related difficulties when solving contextualized differential equations, the researcher then decided to investigate the kinds of such challenges and their impact on students’ learning of differential equations. A sample of 10 mathematics students was selected from one urban high school in one province in Zimbabwe. Written tasks and follow up interviews were employed as data collection tools for the study. Content analysis technique was applied to the written responses and interview transcriptions to obtain a revealing picture of how the kinds of the language related challenges interfere with the growth of mathematical content. The study revealed that the students struggled with interpreting and formulating differential equations from given mathematical situations. Further, interpretation of given initial conditions posed a challenge to the learners. A major consequence of these language related challenges was that the students could not generate complete solutions and lack of interplay between conceptual and procedural fluency was one of the insights generated from this study with regards to the learning of differential equations. The study findings have important implications for instruction in high school mathematics lessons such as the need to develop and foster the students’ abilities to engage in adaptive reasoning and use multiple modes of presenting content in order to promote students’ understanding of contextualized differential equations.

Published in	International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (Volume 5, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13
Page(s)	20-31
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Differential Equations, Contextualized Mathematics. High School Mathematics, Language Barriers

References

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Zakaria Ndemo. (2019). High School Students’ Language Related Struggles with Contextualized Differential Equations. International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, 5(1), 20-31. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13

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ACS Style

Zakaria Ndemo. High School Students’ Language Related Struggles with Contextualized Differential Equations. Int. J. Appl. Math. Theor. Phys. 2019, 5(1), 20-31. doi: 10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13

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Zakaria Ndemo. High School Students’ Language Related Struggles with Contextualized Differential Equations. Int J Appl Math Theor Phys. 2019;5(1):20-31. doi: 10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13,
  author = {Zakaria Ndemo},
  title = {High School Students’ Language Related Struggles with Contextualized Differential Equations},
  journal = {International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics},
  volume = {5},
  number = {1},
  pages = {20-31},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijamtp.20190501.13},
  abstract = {Upon observing with concern that the majority of high school students experienced severe language related difficulties when solving contextualized differential equations, the researcher then decided to investigate the kinds of such challenges and their impact on students’ learning of differential equations. A sample of 10 mathematics students was selected from one urban high school in one province in Zimbabwe. Written tasks and follow up interviews were employed as data collection tools for the study. Content analysis technique was applied to the written responses and interview transcriptions to obtain a revealing picture of how the kinds of the language related challenges interfere with the growth of mathematical content. The study revealed that the students struggled with interpreting and formulating differential equations from given mathematical situations. Further, interpretation of given initial conditions posed a challenge to the learners. A major consequence of these language related challenges was that the students could not generate complete solutions and lack of interplay between conceptual and procedural fluency was one of the insights generated from this study with regards to the learning of differential equations. The study findings have important implications for instruction in high school mathematics lessons such as the need to develop and foster the students’ abilities to engage in adaptive reasoning and use multiple modes of presenting content in order to promote students’ understanding of contextualized differential equations.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - High School Students’ Language Related Struggles with Contextualized Differential Equations
AU  - Zakaria Ndemo
Y1  - 2019/04/18
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13
T2  - International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
JF  - International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
JO  - International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
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UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13
AB  - Upon observing with concern that the majority of high school students experienced severe language related difficulties when solving contextualized differential equations, the researcher then decided to investigate the kinds of such challenges and their impact on students’ learning of differential equations. A sample of 10 mathematics students was selected from one urban high school in one province in Zimbabwe. Written tasks and follow up interviews were employed as data collection tools for the study. Content analysis technique was applied to the written responses and interview transcriptions to obtain a revealing picture of how the kinds of the language related challenges interfere with the growth of mathematical content. The study revealed that the students struggled with interpreting and formulating differential equations from given mathematical situations. Further, interpretation of given initial conditions posed a challenge to the learners. A major consequence of these language related challenges was that the students could not generate complete solutions and lack of interplay between conceptual and procedural fluency was one of the insights generated from this study with regards to the learning of differential equations. The study findings have important implications for instruction in high school mathematics lessons such as the need to develop and foster the students’ abilities to engage in adaptive reasoning and use multiple modes of presenting content in order to promote students’ understanding of contextualized differential equations.
VL  - 5
IS  - 1
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Author Information

Zakaria Ndemo

Department of Science and Mathematics Education, Faculty of Science Education, Bindura University of Science Education, Bindura, Zimbabwe

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Zakaria Ndemo. (2019). High School Students’ Language Related Struggles with Contextualized Differential Equations. International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, 5(1), 20-31. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13

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ACS Style

Zakaria Ndemo. High School Students’ Language Related Struggles with Contextualized Differential Equations. Int. J. Appl. Math. Theor. Phys. 2019, 5(1), 20-31. doi: 10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13

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AMA Style

Zakaria Ndemo. High School Students’ Language Related Struggles with Contextualized Differential Equations. Int J Appl Math Theor Phys. 2019;5(1):20-31. doi: 10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13,
  author = {Zakaria Ndemo},
  title = {High School Students’ Language Related Struggles with Contextualized Differential Equations},
  journal = {International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics},
  volume = {5},
  number = {1},
  pages = {20-31},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijamtp.20190501.13},
  abstract = {Upon observing with concern that the majority of high school students experienced severe language related difficulties when solving contextualized differential equations, the researcher then decided to investigate the kinds of such challenges and their impact on students’ learning of differential equations. A sample of 10 mathematics students was selected from one urban high school in one province in Zimbabwe. Written tasks and follow up interviews were employed as data collection tools for the study. Content analysis technique was applied to the written responses and interview transcriptions to obtain a revealing picture of how the kinds of the language related challenges interfere with the growth of mathematical content. The study revealed that the students struggled with interpreting and formulating differential equations from given mathematical situations. Further, interpretation of given initial conditions posed a challenge to the learners. A major consequence of these language related challenges was that the students could not generate complete solutions and lack of interplay between conceptual and procedural fluency was one of the insights generated from this study with regards to the learning of differential equations. The study findings have important implications for instruction in high school mathematics lessons such as the need to develop and foster the students’ abilities to engage in adaptive reasoning and use multiple modes of presenting content in order to promote students’ understanding of contextualized differential equations.},
 year = {2019}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - High School Students’ Language Related Struggles with Contextualized Differential Equations
AU  - Zakaria Ndemo
Y1  - 2019/04/18
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13
T2  - International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
JF  - International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
JO  - International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
SP  - 20
EP  - 31
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-5927
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijamtp.20190501.13
AB  - Upon observing with concern that the majority of high school students experienced severe language related difficulties when solving contextualized differential equations, the researcher then decided to investigate the kinds of such challenges and their impact on students’ learning of differential equations. A sample of 10 mathematics students was selected from one urban high school in one province in Zimbabwe. Written tasks and follow up interviews were employed as data collection tools for the study. Content analysis technique was applied to the written responses and interview transcriptions to obtain a revealing picture of how the kinds of the language related challenges interfere with the growth of mathematical content. The study revealed that the students struggled with interpreting and formulating differential equations from given mathematical situations. Further, interpretation of given initial conditions posed a challenge to the learners. A major consequence of these language related challenges was that the students could not generate complete solutions and lack of interplay between conceptual and procedural fluency was one of the insights generated from this study with regards to the learning of differential equations. The study findings have important implications for instruction in high school mathematics lessons such as the need to develop and foster the students’ abilities to engage in adaptive reasoning and use multiple modes of presenting content in order to promote students’ understanding of contextualized differential equations.
VL  - 5
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download