Informing Instruction and Instructional Design: A Framework for Student Thinking about Matrix Multiplication

Document Type

Presentation Abstract

Presentation Date

12-12-2011

Abstract

Effective inquiry-oriented teaching demands sensitivity toward students’ common ways of thinking about content, as does the design of tasks to support that teaching. In the research literature, little is known about the variety of ways in which students think about matrix multiplication, which is a fundamental part of any introductory undergraduate linear algebra course. In my talk, I will discuss a framework I have developed for understanding student thinking about matrix multiplication. The data for my study comes from the first in a series of classroom teaching experiments (CTEs) in inquiry-oriented undergraduate linear algebra. The framework for student thinking about matrix multiplication was developed based on data which came from a set of semi-structured clinical interviews conducted with students about halfway through the semester of the aforementioned initial CTE. In addition to presenting this framework for student thinking about matrix multiplication, I will discuss the ways in which the analysis of the interview data informed the revision of an instructional sequence designed to support students’ learning of span, linear dependence and independence.

Additional Details

Monday, 12 December 2011
3:10 p.m. in Math 103
4:00 p.m. Refreshments in Math Lounge 109

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