An examination of high school students' misconceptions about methods of exponential equations.
Average rating
Cast your vote
You can rate an item by clicking the amount of stars they wish to award to this item.
When enough users have cast their vote on this item, the average rating will also be shown.
Star rating
Your vote was cast
Thank you for your feedback
Thank you for your feedback
Author
Hewson, Ashley E.Keyword
Exponential functions.Logarithmic functions.
Algebra -- Study and teaching (Secondary).
Trigonometry -- Problems, exercises, etc.
Calculus -- Problems, exercises, etc.
Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary).
Date Published
2013-10-21
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This study examined the errors and misconceptions exhibited by high school students when solving exponential equations. It was hypothesized that high school students in Algebra 2/Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus classrooms would use guess-and-check strategies and linear arithmetic approaches to solve exponential equations. Few or no students would use logarithmic properties to assist them in solving an exponential equation. During this study, a ten-problem assessment was given to New York students in an Algebra 2/Trigonometry class, an Algebra 2/Trigonometry Honors class, a Pre-Calculus class, and a Pre-Calculus Honors class. The instrument was generated by using past state tests appropriate for students in Algebra 2/Trigonometry according to the state and national mathematics standards. Immediately following the assessment, students were asked to complete a nine-question survey in which they described their reaction to the assessment and their knowledge of exponential equations. The results of the assessment and surveys were collected and analyzed to determine if any correlations existed. The data collected showed that high school students primarily used logarithms to solve exponential equations. Additional results revealed that the Pre-Calculus Honors students scored the highest, the Algebra 2/Trigonometry students scored the lowest, and that students made fundamental errors while solving exponential equations.Collections